Living In A World Of Chaos
by Hamako14
Summary: Kaori Mochizuki is a really good friend of Light Yagami. But when Light finds a strange notebook, Kaori notices Lights odd behavior. From there, things only go down hill... Light/OC
1. Chapter 1: In The Beginning

Character Profile:

Name: Kaori Mochizuki

Age: 17

Eyes: Green

Hair: Brown

Background Info: Kaori lives with her brother Denji; their parents are dead from a plane accident 4 years ago. Denji is 25 years old and is an Engineer for a well known company. Kaori attends the same high school as Light, who is one of her best friends. Her other best friend is Suki Kato; nothing is really needed to be known about her.

* * *

"Another day of hell is finally over," Kaori Mochizuki mumbled to herself as she stepped out of the high school. She stood outside the building waiting for one of her friends to appear from behind the doors. It didn't take long before her wondering eyes came across a black notebook no more than a couple feet in front of her. Being the nice citizen she was, Kaori made her way to the mysterious notebook.

'Death Note? What a weird name for a notebook…' Kaori thought to herself, making a mental note of the ridiculous title. Picking it up, she opened it, trying to find the name of the owner.

Instead of finding a name though, the first sentence of the notebook read 'This is a Death God's notebook…'

'Is this some kind of joke?' Kaori asked herself, a sour look appearing on her face. She looked around for a person to pop out and scream April fools. Unfortunately, it wasn't April 1st nor did anyone jump out. Sighing, Kaori continued to think, 'Who the hell would write this crap or even make it up? Sure, I believe in gods of death and all that, but it's stupid for someone who's obsessed with them to write a notebook dedicated to it.'

"Hey Kaori, what is that you're holding?" asked a voice from behind, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh Light!" Kaori said turning around and smiling to her long time friend, Light Yagami. "I really don't know what it is but you can have it. It doesn't say who the owner is nor do I want it." She handed the notebook to a slightly confused, but interested Light.

"Why are you giving this to me?" he asked, opening the notebook which he now held.

"I can see the interest in your eyes," she responded, causing Light to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh really, you think you know me that well?"

"I know you better you think," Kaori said with a wink.

With a roll of the eyes and a sigh, Light closed the notebook and placed it in his bag.

"Are you going to show up at the prep academy tonight?" Light asked, knowing Kaori skips almost every other day.

"Nope, I've had enough school for one day," she said, giving Light a cheesy smile. "I'll be hanging out with Suki once she gets her butt out here."

"KAORRRRRIIIIIIIIIII!!"

"Speak of the devil," Kaori muttered, both her and Light looking at the front of the school.

Light chuckled, "I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he turned on his heel and made his way home.

" I'll see ya. Oh! And don't forget that you're helping me catch up tomorrow for prep class," Kaori called after him, waving her arms wildly. More chuckles met her ears.

"Are you two dating yet?" Suki asked, throwing her arms around her friend.

"Yep," Kaori answered.

"Really?!"

Kaori rolled her eyes, "No, he's like a brother to me. Anyway, what are we doing today?"

"I was thinking we should crash at your house since your brother's in Germany for the next week and a half," Suki said, removing her arms from Kaori.

Kaori shrugged, "Sounds good to me." And with that, the two friends made their way to Kaori's house.

----

After successfully making their way inside the house, Kaori and Suki made a bee-line for the couch.

"What do you want to do first, watch a movie or play video games?" Kaori asked, opening the cabinet next to the TV. She was fully unaware that Suki was attempting a James Bond move over the back of her couch.

THUMP

Kaori whipped around with wide eyes, not knowing what to expect. Suki's upper torso lay on the ground while her legs were sprawled on the sofa, a frazzled look on her face. All Kaori could do was snort and laugh.

"Um…" Suki started, "Surprise?" She pulled her legs off the sofa before joining her friend in laughter.

Kaori calmed herself down, "Hahaha, wooo. You're face was so priceless"

Suki flushed with embarrassment, "eh heh heh…I decided to start off the girl's night a little differently."

"HA! You should do that more often!"

* * *

Ya, I kinda realized it's kinda slow and not the best, but I promise it'll pick up!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.


	2. Chapter 2: False Accusations

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note. I only own Kaori, Suki, and Denji.

* * *

After hours of cake making, video game bashing, and movie watching, Kaori had problems waking up the next morning. She arrived late to school and managed to sleep through most of her classes.

"yawn" Kaori found herself leaning against the school building again, "He sure is taking his time today…" she muttered, watching the entrance. She took out her cell phone and checked the time. School has been officially out for 10 minutes and still no sign of Light. 'That's weird, he's usually out by now…' Kaori thought to herself.

Soon, ten minutes turned into fifteen, which then turned into twenty. Fed up with waiting and a little worried about her friend, Kaori called Light. Surprisingly, there was no answer. Kaori shut her phone a little irked. 'I can't believe he ditched me… Oh well, I guess even your best friends do that to you once in awhile,' she thought, making her way home.

--

A week has passed since Kaori had seen Light. And now she found herself standing in front of the Yagami household.

"He so better be home…" she muttered knocking on the door.

The door suddenly swung open revealing Light's sister.

"Kaori!" Sayu exclaimed.

"Sayu, how's it going? Does your brother happen to be home?" Kaori asked giving the younger girl a hug.

"I'm doing well except for math, I still need Light's help with that." Sayu pouted.

"Don't we all," Kaori giggled.

"Light should be up in his room," Sayu stepped aside to let Kaori in, "you already know the way."

Walking up the stairs and down the hall, Kaori stopped in front of Light's bedroom door when she heard him talking. It sounded like he was talking to someone but there was no other voice to answer whatever he said. 'When did Light start talking to himself?' Kaori thought before trying to open Light's door. She wasn't surprised to find it locked.

"Light," she whined jiggling the handle, "why do you always lock your door?" She heard scrambling from inside the room. Within moments, the door was jerked open.

"Hey," Light was mildly surprised at the house visit.

"Did you not think I would come and find you after you left me hanging for an entire week?" she responded, hands on her hips.

"Actually, I kind of figured you would."

"Whatever…" Kaori went into Light's room and sat on his bed."I've been worried about you," she started, watching Light shutting his door before returning to his computer chair. "It's not like I have class with you, so the only time I get to see you is after school. But I haven't seen nor heard from you during this past week. When I tried calling you about helping me catch up with the prep class, you never answered. I was hoping you would call me back, but you never did. I tried to catch you every day after school, but somehow you managed to slip by me unnoticed." She paused for a deep breath. "You know, if you wanted to hang out with your girlfriend, whoever she may be, you could have at least told me about it instead of blowing me off!" Kaori knew quite well that Light would never get a girlfriend at this point in time; it was pointless since the final and college entrance exams were coming up within two months.

She took a good look at Light's face, trying to read his reaction. His eyes were slightly widened with shock at hearing her accusation. That's when she noticed that his eyes were slightly different. She made a mental note to ask Suki if she noticed any change since she had classes with him. But as fast as his reaction appeared on his face, it was gone.

"What?" Kaori knew it wasn't an actual question by the tone of Light's voice, "You know very well that I don't have a girlfriend. And you certainly know that I would NOT blow you off even if I had one."

"You mean you haven't asked Yuri out yet?" she asked feigning surprise.

Light just rolled his eyes as he caught on to what Kaori was doing. "I wasn't going to in the first place. Obviously you don't know me that well."

"You would throw my own words back in my face," she huffed.

He just shrugged, "You deserve it."

"Anyway, I have a real question," she crossed her arms, "What _have _you been doing over this past week?"

* * *

Well, that's all I've got for right now. I couldn't really think of an excuse for Light at the moment so I decided to end it there. I hope the story started to pick up at least a little bit.


	3. Chapter 3: The Bet

I kind of realized some of you may not know who Yuri is. She's the one Light asked to go on the date with when he killed crazy drug addict.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

* * *

_RECAP- "Anyway, I have a real question," she crossed her arms, "What have you been doing over this past week?" -END RECAP_

"I've been studying," his reply made it seem as though it was common sense. That answer didn't settle well with Kaori. Actually, it pissed her off.

"I'm not that stupid Light! You know as well as I do that that's a lie," she sneered, eyes blazing with fury.

Light stayed silent for a couple minutes. The tension in the room caused Kaori to become slightly uncomfortable. It didn't help that Light's gaze was piercing through her, but she refused to back down.

"Does it have something to do with that stupid notebook?" Kaori asked infuriated. Light just narrowed his eyes. Once she realized Light wasn't going to answer her, she immediately stood up .

"When you decide to tell me what's going on, you know where to find me." Before she managed to open the door, Kaori was hugged from behind.

"Please don't be mad at me Kaori," Light tightened his grip around her, "I just… I can't tell you right now."

"When will you be able to tell me?" Kaori asked softly.

"I don't know."

Kaori sighed and pulled herself out of the hug. "I'll see you later, Light." She walked out of his room.

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, Sayu came up to her. "Is everything okay?" Sayu asked worriedly.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Kaori sighed, "Light's just being an idiot. Anyway, I'll see you later girl." She hugged Sayu before leaving the Yagami household.

--

It's been a day since Kaori's visit to Light's house, and she found herself in a local café with Suki.

"…and then I left," Kaori finished telling Suki what happened, though she left out the comment about the Death Note. "I really don't know what's gotten into that boy." She took a bite of her chocolate cake.

"It sounds like he's being a boy," Suki said taking a sip of her tea.

"What do you mean?"

"He's looking at porno mags!" she exclaimed.

As if on cue, Kaori started choking on her cake. She took a drink of water before she could respond to Suki. "I highly doubt that's the case."

"He just doesn't want you to know," Suki justified.

"He doesn't seem the type to have those types of things."

Suki gave Kaori an exasperated look before making her a deal, "I'll bet you 20 bucks that he's into porno."

"Fine, you're on!" Kaori paused to think, "How are we going to figure out if he does or does not?"

"We're going to spy on him, duh!"

Before she could object, Kaori's phone went off. "Hello?"

"Kaori, it's Light,"

"Hey Light, what's up?" Suki started making kissy faces at Kaori.

"I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to Spaceland today."

"Oh sorry Light, I'm hanging out with Suki," Kaori replied, flicking water at Suki. "Why don't you ask Yuri?" she teased.

"Actually, I think I will," he replied seriously, "Talk to you later."

"Wait!" She practically screamed, but he already hung up. She shut her phone and looked at Suki. "Oh shut up." Suki just grinned like an idiot.

"All I was going to say was it's time to spy!"

"Oh whatever."


	4. Chapter 4: Bus Accident

Alright, for those who didn't read the change, I re-read the manga and they were going to Spaceland, not the mall. So I'm sorry for the switch. And a heads up, I hope this chapter doesn't confuse you too much, I've been trying to get it so you wouldn't be confused. Well that's it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

ENJOY!

* * *

"Maybe we should have ridden the bus to the Spaceland, my feet are killing me," Suki whined.

"I don't want to risk getting on the bus. It would look bad if we end up on the same one as Light and Yuri," Kaori replied.

It was silent for a while until Suki broke it. "Have you heard about Kira?"

"No not really. What's Kira?" Kaori asked.

"Kira's not a what. It's someone who's been killing off any criminal, from those who murder to those who shoplift. No one can escape him. Geez, don't you watch the news?"

"Can't say I do," Kaori paused, thinking of what she thought about Kira; she knew Suki was going to ask her. "Truthfully, as long as what Kira is doing doesn't affect my life, I really don't care."

"Can you read minds?" Suki was astounded that her next question was answered.

"Nope. You're just predictable," Kaori teased.

Before Suki could retort, a speeding city bus came screeching to a stop no more than 100 feet in front of them. They were shocked when a man flew out of the door only to be hit by a car. The two girls stood there, mouths wide open. They took off toward the bus just as people started getting off. Kaori slowed down as one of the passengers neared her while Suki went to go talk to the drivers of the car and bus.

"Sir, are you okay?"Kaori asked once the man got closer to her.

"Yeah, just a little unnerved," the man rubbed the back of his neck. But Kaori's question didn't stop him; he just passed her before she could ask anything else. She stared after him extremely curious as to what the hell happened.

"Kaori," a familiar called from behind her.

"uhn?" she was to deep in thought to comprehend that someone was talking to her. She snapped out of it as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her head turned toward the person who had originally called her name.

"Light?" she gave him a weird look.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I should be asking you that. Who was that man?"

"That was the man who shouted for everyone to get down when a hijacker took over the bus," answered a female voice. Kaori ignored the person that the voice belonged to; Yuri.

"So I'm to assume that the one who was hit by the car was the hijacker?" Light and Yuri nodded, "And that man," Kaori pointed to the man who she just talked to, "didn't cause the death of him, did he?"

"The hijacker was a drug addict who was hallucinating. It was his own fault he died," Light answered. Kaori looked at him as if he grew two heads. Once again, she noticed the reddish tint in his eyes, except it was a little stronger than the last time she noticed it.

"How did you know…?" Light raised his eyebrows at her unfinished question.

"Kaori, I called the police and they should be here soon," Suki said running over to where the three teenagers stood.

"Eh, who wants to get questioned by the police?" Yuri asked, "Come on Light, we're almost to Spaceland. Let's go." She grabbed a hold of Light's arm, dragging him away quickly before he could react. He looked behind at Kaori and Suki before he willingly went with Yuri.

"Did you two have a lover's quarrel?" Suki teased.

"Oh shut up!" Kaori huffed, "I hate when you say that stuff. I don't like him like that!" Suki just snorted, earning herself a punch in the arm. 'I wonder if Kira had anything to do with this,' Kaori thought to herself as she and Suki made their way over to the bus.

--

After a short interrogation by the police and a long walk home, Kaori shut the front door before she fell onto the couch.

"Now where have you been, baby sis?" a deep voice said from behind the couch.

"Watching a man get run over by a car…Denji?!" Kaori shot off the couch and into the arms of her 25 year old brother. "When did you get home?"

"A couple hours ago. Now come, we'll talk in the kitchen while I make us dinner."

"Yes sir," she saluted him, before sauntering after him and into the kitchen.

Kaori spent the rest of the night chatting with Denji before finally going to bed around two the next morning. But as she lay in bed, two questions kept popping up; why are Light's eyes turning redder and how did he know that the hijacker was a drug addict?


	5. Chapter 5: Boys Will Be Boys

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

ENJOY!

* * *

It's been a couple of days since the bus accident and Denji's homecoming and already the food pantry, which once held a months worth of food, now contained less than a weeks worth.

"You know you didn't have to come with me," Kaori told Suki as they exited the grocery store.

"But if I wasn't here, who would help with all these groceries?" She responded, holding up four bags of food, "Besides, your bro's going to be cooking for me too!"

"I forgot that you were such a mooch when Denji's home to cook," Kaori blandly stated. "Come to think of it, you always ask to come over when he's over." A sly grin appeared on Kaori's face as she turned to her friend, who looked like a deer in headlights. "Don't tell me you have a crush on my brother."

"Hey look!" cried a tomato faced Suki, "Light just went into the bookstore." Before Kaori could tell her not to change the subject, they were already in the bookstore ducking behind one of the many magazine racks.

"What are we doing?" Kaori asked as they watched Light flip through a magazine before putting it back.

"I can't believe you already forgot our bet," Suki whispered.

"I didn't forget about the bet, I just forgot how serious you were about the follow up!"

"Shit, he's coming our way! Squat down soldier!" Suki pushed Kaori down to the squatting position while she continued to stand. They quickly picked up the nearest magazines and hid their faces behind them as Light came closer. Thinking he had passed, the two girls lowered their magazines.

"That was close," Kaori sighed.

"What was close?" The girls snapped their heads toward the voice and into the face of Light.

"H-hey Light," Suki stuttered, while Kaori looked like a fish out of water.

"So what are you guys reading?" He looked mildly amused.

"Well," Kaori flipped to the front cover of the motorcycle magazine she held, "I was admiring these motorcycles?" Kaori tried to think of something fast, "I was going to try to find and flirt with some guy that had one of these babies…" She laughed nervously at the end as Light gave her an 'I highly doubt that' look.

"And I was…" Suki paused as she flipped through the pages of a cooking magazine, "…looking at some recipes that I can force Denji to make for me…I mean us!"

"You are such a _mooch_," Kaori muttered, standing up.

"Nuh uh!" Suki said childishly before she turned to Light, "So what magazines do you have?" Suki sounded a little too excited. Light coughed loudly as he shifted the magazines out of their view.

"None of your business," Light said, "I'll see you guys at school." He paid for the magazines and promptly left as the two girls stared after him.

"Hand it over!" Suki said holding out a hand.

"Damn. I really didn't want to know that he had porno mags," Kaori grumbled, pulling out a 20 dollar bill from her wallet.

"Boys will be boys," Suki sand happily as she snatched the 20 out of Kaori's hand. "Now let's get these groceries home so Denji can cook for us!"

--

After Suki went home with a full stomach, Kaori and Denji sat on the couch watching the news.

"Why is Kira such a big deal?" Kaori asked. All the news seemed to be about was the criminal killer.

"Did you not watch the showdown between L and Kira?" Denji asked, surprised his sister hadn't heard about Kira.

"Nope," she said, "Who's L?"

"Even I saw it when I was in Germany. Thank goodness I taped it," he muttered shuffling through his travel bags. After a moment, he pulled out a disc and popped it into the DVD player.

On the screen of the TV, a neatly groomed man came onto the screen introducing himself as Lind L. Tailor, also known as L. He goes on a rant about how Kira must be stopped and at the end of a long speech, Tailor calls Kira evil. Within less than a minute of the statement, Lind L. Tailor dies in front of the camera from a heart attack and a new voice takes over. The voice explains that Tailor was a convict that was scheduled to die later that day and that he is the real L. He challenges Kira to kill him but concludes that Kira can't. L concludes the broadcast by saying, "I'm going to find and dispose of you, if it's the last thing I do!! I'm righteous!! Till we meet again, Kira."

The DVD ended but Kaori continued to gawk at the screen. 'How could I miss something this big?!' she thought to herself as she shut her jaw and went to her room. 'I remember Suki bringing up Kira for the first time, but come on! That's ridiculous that I didn't know about the feud. Light is always watching the news AND his dad's in the police force. I'll ask him tomorrow to inform me about Kira.' And with that, Kaori fell into a restless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Study Buddy

This one's kind of long... My b...

OH! And Hideki is a famous pop star... just for those who didn't know...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

* * *

Kaori was finally able to force herself out of bed around noon the next day. Even though it was Sunday, Denji had gone into work to play with a new product he was creating. She quickly took a shower and ate lunch before she called Light up.

"Hey Light, it's Kaori," she said once he picked up.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you could help me study for the college entrance exam that is coming up."

"You mean you haven't started?"

Kaori gave a nervous chuckle, "Well, I've been pretty busy lately."

"Well I must agree, looking at motorcycle magazines do take up time."

Kaori didn't say anything as her face turned red remembering the incident at the bookstore yesterday.

"It's fine, you can come over now if you want," Kaori could practically hear the smirk on his face.

"Thanks, I'll be over soon." With that, Kaori grabbed her school bag before heading out the door and to Light's house.

--

Kaori found herself on the familiar bed of Light Yagami. But this time, her school work as scattered all over the bed with Light sitting across from her. He had been testing her knowledge and giving her pointers on what would probably be on the exams. After two and a half hours of relentless studying, they finally took a break.

"I bet my brain would make a great plate of scrambled eggs right now," Kaori sighed as she leaned back against the head bored of the bed.

"If you actually studied like this every day, you would be as smart as I am," Light said, placing all the papers that were on the bed into a stack on the floor.

"Why would I want to be a self-centered prick who everyone is practically in love with, including teachers?" she half teased. How do you half tease? No idea.

"The real question is why would you _not_ want to be someone everyone is practically in love with?" Light watched closely as Kaori's eyes started to drop.

"Because…" It was hard to fight off the urge to sleep, "…then I wouldn't be who I am today nor would I be… friends…with……you…."

Light smiled and shook his head as Kaori fell asleep practically falling off the side of his bed. He stood up and adjusted her body so it was lying properly in his bed before he went over to his desk to do some more studying.

--

Kaori woke with a start when a notebook smacked into her back.

"hummnah!" was her exact mumble as she twisted her head to the perpetrator who had woken her up. "Light, what's up?" she muttered rubbing her eyes.

"Although I think I like you better when you're sleeping," Light dodged an on-coming pillow, "it's dinner time and mom would love it if you ate with us."

"I love your mom," Kaori got off the bed and stretched her tired muscles before following Light down to the kitchen. "Mmmm. Something smells good!" Kaori said as she walked to the diner table

"How are you Kaori dear?" Mrs. Yagami, also known as Sachiko, asked hugging Kaori before going back to setting the table.

"Amazing now that my brain's become play dough," Kaori joked sitting next to Sayu at the table. Light was helping Sachiko set the table while Sayu and Kaori watched the music channel. The food was finally on the table, so Light sat across from Kaori and Sachiko sat across from Sayu.

"Hideki is sooo gorgeous," Sayu gushed, eyes glued to the television.

"I must agree," Kaori said, "I take a piece of that any day." Sayu and Kaori giggled while Sachiko just laughed.

Light scoffed, "Not another music channel. You two would be better off watching the news."

"No way"--"Not in your life" Sayu and Kaori said at the same time.

"Why don't _you_ like anyone?!" Sayu asked. Light's eyes flickered across the table, before looking at his sister.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a NKK News Bulletin." All heads shifted to the TV screen just in time to see '_Interpol to send total of 1,500 detectives from various countries to Japan to help solve Kira case_' flash across top.

"1,500 detectives? Wow…" Sayu commented rather shocked.

"Interpol is so stupid," Light said, "What's the point if they announce it like this?" He continues on to say that they're bluffing because it would be pointless to send that many detectives and announce it to the entire world, therefore alerting Kira that they're coming for him. But during his entire explanation, Kaori started to wonder if Light knew more about Kira than any other person or he was just damn smart. "But it's pretty obvious. I'm sure Kira's figured that out too."

"But how would you know what goes through Kira's head?" Kaori said, gears in her head turning rapidly.

"I don't," Light replied, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Then how can you assume that Kira already figured it out within five minutes of the broadcast?"

"He's already shown his intelligence by not being caught when he's killed so many." Kaori caught heard Light's tone had started getting a edge to it.

She just sighed, then feigned a yawn and checked the clock, "Gosh, I'm tired. I guess I better head home unless you want me to sleepover." She got up from the table before saying her goodbyes. "Thank you Mrs. Yagami for the amazing dinner. Sayu, I'll make sure I stop by and see you soon." Kaori paused while she turned to Light. She had a feeling he knew she was faking her tiredness. "And thank you for helping me study for the entrance exam, Light. I owe you big time."

As soon as Kaori was outside the Yagami property, she slowed down her steps. 'I'm really glad I didn't bring up Kira before I saw him react to the broadcast,' Kaori thought to herself. 'He got a little to 'passionate' about _that_ subject at dinner time. And how would he know what Kira thought… unless he was Kira himself. But… that's impossible, right?'


	7. Chapter 7: Do you mind?

I kind of realized that these chapters are updating pretty fast... Oh well... ENJOY!!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

* * *

Over the past couple of weeks, all Kaori's been doing is studying with Suki in the morning, Light during the day, and Denji during the night. On top of studying all day, she was trying to figure out what was going on with Light. She noted that the red tint in his eyes wasn't going away, there was a shadow that started appearing next to him, and every time Kira was brought up, he would (A) say things as though he was Kira or (B) be just too damn smart for his own good. The thing that bothered her the most was the shadow; with each passing day, it was starting to take an 'exotic' form.

Unfortunately, time flew by way to fast and Kaori found herself sitting in a classroom waiting for the college entrance exam for To-Oh University to begin. She fidgeted with her pencil, looking around for Light.

'He probably is taking his time getting here…' Kaori thought sighing. Feeling as though eyes were piercing through her, Kaori proceeded to look around her. Her hazel eyes connected with big, owlish eyes, belonging to a man sitting in a weird position; feet on the edge of his desk and arms resting on his thighs. Kaori smiled at him before turning to look back at her pencil, though the feeling of his eyes didn't leave her until a couple minutes later when Light walked into the room. Kaori gave Light a smile but then rolled her eyes when half the girls in the room turned their heads to look at him.

"You may start," the instructor said after reading the instructions. Kaori looked down at the test booklet realizing that this was going to be one _long_ week. Just as she finally got her concentration built up so she could work on the exam, the instructors loud voice threw it off, "You there… number 162. Sit properly."

Slightly peeved about her broken concentration, Kaori coughed rather loudly, catching nearly everyone's attention.

The instructor turned to her, "Yes?"

"Do you mind? I'm trying to take this exam," she stated quite annoyed.

The instructor nervously cleared his throat before walking off to make sure there were no cheaters. Kaori watched him walk away before rolling her eyes again and getting back to the exam. Unknown to her, Light and L had glanced at her, glanced at each other, then went back to their exams.

--

Kaori was trying so hard not to fall asleep during the 2004 To-Oh University Entrance Ceremony. With Suki attending a college in the United States and Denji off in Brazil for work purposes, Kaori found herself pretty bored with life. Finally the ceremony ended and Kaori waited for Light outside the building. Her eye twitched when she noticed the shadow had bat-like wings sprouting behind it. But she kept her eyes firmly on Light.

"That was much more boring than when Suki gave her speech on Lima beans," Kaori said to Light as he, and his shadow, got closer.

Light just chuckled, "It wasn't that bad. I found it kind of," he paused, "…_interesting._"

"Really?" Kaori was confused, "You seem unnerved, to say the least." That comment caused Light's face to drop.

"Yagami-kun," a voice cut off their conversation. The two looked over to see the man with the owlish eyes watching Light from a short distance away. "It was nice meeting you …"

"It was nice meeting you too," Light said, looking slightly irritated.

The man's attention turned to Kaori. "And you the one who coughed loudly during the entrance exam."

"Eh, ya. That's me," Kaori said embarrassedly, "The name's Kaori Mochizuki."

She held out her hand and he shook it. "Hideki Ryuga."

"Nice to meet you," she gave him a friendly smile, earning an awkward one from him. 'He's definitely not the famous pop star,' she thought to herself.

"I'll see you two around campus, then," Hideki stated getting into a black limo.

"I guess, Bye," Light said while Kaori just nodded and waved. The car sped off and out of sight, Light watching it the entire time.

Kaori was concerned about him. "Are you alright?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He just shrugged off her hand, ignoring her question as he walked away. Kaori stood in the same spot, watching Light and his flying shadow walk away.

"I'm assuming that Hideki caused your demeanor to change, otherwise you wouldn't have acted so childish toward him…" Kaori muttered to herself. "Boys are stupid…" she sighed as she walked home.


	8. Chapter 8: Creeper

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

ENJOY!!

* * *

College was a breath of fresh air for Kaori. It's only been a week, but she's already loving it so much more than high school. She was surprised when she found out she had some classes with Light and others with Hideki. Kaori wasn't surprised when Light dated a different girl like every other day, but it did piss her off.

Kaori sat on a bench on campus, reading a book of unsolved mysteries. A small breeze tossed her hair as the sun kept her warm; it was just a good day to be outside.

"Hey Kaori," Light's voice caused her head to shoot up.

"Afternoon Kaori-chan," came another voice.

"Oh, hi Light," she looked to his right, "Hey Hideki, what's up?" Seeing Light with Hideki shocked her a bit. She thought Light would want to stay away from someone who unnerved him, but then again, he's been acting weird for a while now.

"We're off to have a tennis match," Hideki stated blandly.

"Would you care to come watch us Kaori?" Light asked, causing Hideki to glance at him.

"Nah, that's alright," she declined the offer. "I just got to reading a really good case on the Zodiac killer."

"You like to read about murderers?" Hideki cocked his head, causing Kaori to blush a little from his cuteness.

"Read _and_ watch. I find it really interesting to see all the types of killers out there, how they kill their victims, what they do with their bodies, and finding out what motivates them." She paused before frowning, "That makes me sound cynical."

"Not really," he said, "Do you plan on going into the police force?"

"I'm not really sure. I think it would be an awesome job to be a detective, though it could get dangerous at times, especially since there's the possibility that the murderer may come after the detective. But I'm not afraid of death. So, it's up there on my list of possible jobs."

During the little conversation between Hideki and Kaori, Light just stood on the side lines watching how his friend acted toward Hideki. He glared at Hideki, saying, "We should be going now before it gets to late."

"Oh of course!" Kaori was slightly embarrassed that she kept them from their match. "I'm sorry! I'll see you around Hideki! You too Light!"

"It was nice talking to you, Kaori-chan," Hideki said throwing her a awkward smile. The two boys walked, well Light stalked, away, Kaori watching their backs.

'Light sure acts irritated when he's around Hideki' she thought to herself before getting back to her book.

--

Later that day when Kaori was walking through the city, something behind her caught her eye; there was a man wearing a suit with short, spiky black hair that seemed to be tailing her. Just to see if he was actually following her, Kaori ran across the street, being careful not to be hit by on coming traffic. She glanced behind her. The man was still on the opposite side of the road, but was waiting to cross at the crosswalk.

'So he _is _following me,' Kaori thought picking up her pace. She continuously weaved from one side of the street to the next, turning down streets she never had before. By the time she made it home, fatigue started setting in. So she fell asleep on the couch, since Denji wasn't home to yell at her, he was still in Brazil.

--

It's been a few days since Kaori found out someone had been following her. Now it was around 6:30 p.m. and she was walking home from a study secession. Once again, she felt the presence from the man necessarily and it was really creeping her out. She got fed up, turned down an alley and started running, not caring where it led.

Kaori stopped at the side of a building across from the Sakura TV building, eyes wide. On the sidewalk to her left, a TV station was taking footage of a man being taken away on a stretcher by paramedics in front of the doors of Sakura TV. She was too shocked to say or do anything. But when she heard footsteps coming up fast behind her, she ran inside the building to her left.

"Tonight is _not _my night!" she was freaking out as she ran up the stairs in the building. The hallways weren't making her life easier; they were dark and creepy.

When she heard footsteps, she dove for a door, finding it unlocked. She ducked inside, shut it quietly and locked it. Kaori held her breath as the footsteps got louder as they passed by the room she was in.

"Rem, Kira is sure to respond to the TV broadcasts, right?" came a high pitched voice, obviously belonging to a girl. The was no answer, but the girl continued to talk, "Good. I wonder how long it'll take for him to…." The voice faded away.

'What the hell is going on?!' Kaori thought to herself. She didn't move from her spot till what seemed hours later. Finally, she carefully got up from her spot on the floor and opened the door. She stuck her head out making sure no one was still around. With the coast clear, she made her way down the hall, down the stairs, and out the building. She looked to the street between the building she was in and Sakura TV. Everyone was gone, except for at least a dozen police men guarding the entrance of Sakura TV, which had a massive hole in the front.

"I need to go home and call Denji to find out what the hell happened," Kaori muttered, walking down the alley way she had first arrived in. The walk home wasn't to bad, though a couple drunk men hit on Kaori along the way. Other than that, nothing exciting happened…until she made it home. On her front door step sat Mr. Yagami.

"Mr. Yagami?" Kaori asked, confused as to why he was there. "What are you doing here so late?"

Mr. Yagami cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, "I need you to come with me, Kaori." He stood up, sweat falling off his face.

"S-S-Sure," Kaori eyebrows were knit together, "Is something wrong?"

"Please," his eyes were full of sadness, "Just get in the car." He opened the door to the back seat of a black car parked in front of her house. Deeply confused but fully trusting Mr. Yagami, Kaori got in the car, door shutting behind her. As the car started moving, Kaori could only wonder where Mr. Yagami was taking her.


	9. Chapter 9: Anger Issues

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry this took a little long to post. L is so freaking hard to act like! So I'm sorry if he seems a bit OOC... I tried my hardest!

ENJOY!

* * *

It seemed like they were driving in circles for an hour before finally stopping in front of a hotel. Kaori didn't bother trying to talk to Mr. Yagami as they made their way through the lobby and into the elevator. Kaori leaned her back up against the elevator wall while Mr. Yagami standing near the door. She eyed the middle aged man, who seemed as stressed as ever. The bags under his blood shot eyes could not be hidden underneath the glasses.

Kaori shut her eyes. 'Obviously I somehow ended up in the middle of whatever stressful case Mr. Yagami is working on, which is a good chance of being about Kira,' she thought sighing. 'Could this possibly get any worse?'

With a ding, the elevator doors opened. Mr. Yagami first stepped out, Kaori following behind him. But after taking a couple steps, Mr. Yagami leaned up against the wall clutching his chest.

"Mr. Yagami!" Kaori gasped rushing to his side, "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah… just a little over worked," his voice came out raspy. He pushed himself off the wall, staggering a bit.

"Mr. Yagami, please, rest a bit!" she pleaded grabbing a hold of his arm to steady him. "I can tell that whatever case you're working is probably has to do with Kira." He gave her a shocked look. 'I probably shouldn't have said that…' Kaori thought as Mr. Yagami was waiting for an explanation. "W-Well, ever since Kira's been killing criminals, massive bags have formed under your eyes, you've been sweating profusely, and usually act paranoid. I can tell that you've been stressed whenever I come over to study with Light. Everyone is worried about you, especially your wife! Whenever I ask where you are or how you're doing, she starts getting depressed."

Mr. Yagami gave her a sad smile, "I know you all are, but I've got an important job. And the faster we get to the room, the faster I'll be able to rest."

"Of course, but at least use me as a crutch," Kaori pleaded placing his arm over her shoulder. She helped him walk down to a room far down the hallway to the right. She took her arm from around Mr. Yagami's back to knock on the door. An elderly man in a black suit answered the door.

"Oh my!" He said quickly grapping a hold of Mr. Yagami. "Ryuzaki-san, Yagami-san and Mochizuki-chan are here." The old man helped Mr. Yagami into the room, Kaori followed them in, her eyes scanning the hotel room.

'Who the hell works from a hotel room? At least it's a five star…' Kaori thought to herself not really paying attention even as Mr. Yagami and the older man walk into what seemed the living room, causing two voices cut through the air.

"Chief!"--"Chief, sir…"

Kaori was still in 'la la land', walking into the kitchen area. Feeling hungry since she basically missed dinner, she headed straight for the fridge. But before she managed to put her hand on the handle, an all to familiar voice caught her attention.

"Kaori-chan, glad to see Yagami-san was able to get you here," came a voice behind her.

There was no mistaking it; that voice belonged to Hideki, especially since he adds the suffixes at the end of everyone's names. She turned around and looked at him slightly confused, "Hideki? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're apart of the police force too."

"Kaori-chan, please come with me," Hideki said, ignoring her questions at the moment. She took one last look at the fridge before following Hideki through the living room.

She passed Mr. Yagami who was now laying down on the couch, two men she never seen before and the old man who answered the door. But instead of stopping there, she was led into the bedroom as Hideki shut the door behind him.

"Take a seat on the bed," he said pulling up a chair to the bed side. Kaori didn't know what to expect to happen as she sat in the middle of the bed while Hideki got into his awkward sitting position. "Do you know why you're here Kaori-chan?"

"Does it have something to do with Kira?" she asked feeling uneasy.

"Yes," he said his eyes unwavering, "If you haven't guessed it already, I am L." Kaori just stared at him, a blank look on her face, rivaling his own. "Light is a suspect in the Kira case and since you're close to him, it would be important for you to help expose him for being Kira, or prove him innocent. Not only are thousands of criminals being killed by Kira, but he has targeted 12 FBI agents in his killing spree. What Kira is doing is wrong and needs to be stopped. If Light is really Kira, then justice needs to be dealt."

"So you're saying Light, my _best friend _that I've know since I was little, is Kira?!" Kaori was starting to get pissed. No matter how cute Hideki, or L, may be, he had no right in saying Light was a mass murderer.

"Yes," L bit his thumb.

"How can you say something like that?" Kaori stood up from the bed, eyes flaring with anger.

"I've been watching him closely--"

"You had someone following him_, _didn't you?"

"It was necessary."

"Then that means _you_ were the one who had someone following _me_!! You're...you're ridiculous!!"

"Now, Kaori-chan…"

"Don't _Kaori-chan _me. You have no right to invade someone's privacy, even if everyone in this damn world was to be killed, innocent or not!" L stayed silent as he watched Kaori pace around the room. "I can't believe you…" Kaori was at a lost of words, tears of frustration were stinging her eyes. She closed her eyes, "Hideki, L, whoever you are…please, let me have some privacy….I need to think this over."

"Of course," the so called L stood up and exited the room, locking the door from the outside.

Kaori collapsed on the bed cradling her head in her hands as she cried.


	10. Chapter 10: The Water Works Start Again

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

This chapter is dedicated to Diego12191, also known as Dee; she's really helped me with my story...but anyway...

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori rolled over onto her stomach as sunlight started seeping through her eyelids. 'mnnm… damn light…' When she couldn't get back to sleep, she sat up on the edge of the bed. The sudden realization that Kaori wasn't in her bedroom brought the events of last night flooding back to her. "That's right… I'm in the hotel room of Hideki." She stood up and headed to the adjoining bathroom. "I must of cried myself to sleep last night," she muttered staring at herself in the mirror. There were still dried streams from the tears on her cheeks, and her hair was a little bit messy. Matting it down, so it looked somewhat decent, Kaori exited the bathroom to find Hideki sitting in the chair he was last night.

"Good morning Kaori-chan," he said watching her walk over to the window seal and sit down. She completely ignored his hello so he continued, "I know you're mad that I had you and Light followed, invading your privacy. But for the sake of justice, it had to been done."

"I'm not just mad about my privacy. What I'm mad about the most is you accusing Light, someone I care about very deeply and know like the back of my hand, of something so absurd! Yeah, he's thought about how criminals should pay with their life for what they've done, but so have I and a lot of other people. How did you even narrow it down to Light?" Kaori ranted, getting worked up again.

"Kaori-chan calm down. When Kira starting first killing, his victims were in the Kanto reign of Japan and was working off a schedule of a high school student. And when I had FBI agents involved, they were all killed by Kira. But I had managed to narrow it down to the families agent Raye Penbar had been assigned to because what had happened in the events leading to his death. It narrowed down to Light Yagami being the main suspect as the other families were cleared. And when I talked to him, my suspicion only grew more. I'm 5 percent sure he's Kira."

"What?!" Kaori was stunned, "You believe someone who is _only 5 percent_ to be Kira?! Are you kidding me?!"

"No I'm not kidding you. You have nothing to worry about if Light isn't Kira, and you could speed up that process if you help with this investigation of Kira."

"Does Light know he's suspected of being Kira?"

"Yes and he's helping with the investigation too." That statement left her gawking.

'Is he really that crazy to have a Kira suspect helping with the case?' Kaori thought. "Ugh," she rubbed her temples, "Fine, I'll help prove Light innocence." 'He owes me big time.'

--

Hideki let Kaori go home after making her promise to continue calling him by that name, since they were going to school together and to make sure she'll be back at the hotel room the next day. But after she ate lunch and took a shower, she found herself at the familiar door of the Yagami household.

Kaori was surprised to see Light answer the door, shadow in tow, "This is a shocker!" She exclaimed after a small pause of eyeing the, now red eyed stalker.

"Why?" he asked confused, "I live here."

"I know that," she smacked his arm lightly and she stepped inside, "But you normally don't answer your _front _door." He just rolled his eyes. "But I need to talk to you privately," she gave the living room a sideways glance as she heard Sayu's voice coming from it, "It's rather important."

"Alright, we'll go to my room," Light said making his way up the stairs and into his room, Kaori following like a puppy. Once Kaori walked into the room, Light shut the door behind them.

"Lock it," she said making her way to the middle of the bedroom.

Light gave her back a questionable look before doing what she asked, "What's up?"

She turned to face him, her face riddled with anger. "Why didn't you _tell_ me that you were suspected of being Kira?" she hissed.

His shock turned into irritation, "Who told you?"

"Who do _you _think? The one and only L." A mixture of emotions crossed Light's face.

"So he revealed himself to you…"

"How long did you know Hideki was L?" Kaori betrayal edging into her voice.

Light ignored her question, sneering out one of his own, "Why did he reveal himself to you?"

"Answer my question!" she was getting really emotional.

"It's not important on how long I've know he was L! Now answer!"

"NO!! Not until you answer _mine_!!" That answer only caused Light to shove Kaori by the shoulders into the nearest wall.

"Kaori. When I say it's not important, it's not _important._" His eyes narrowed as his voice dripped like venom, fingers were digger into her shoulders.

"H-he wanted me to help with the investigation…" Kaori's eyes were wide with shock and fear. And for the second time in 24 hours, tears were stinging her eyes. "I-I-I told him I would help to prove your innocence, Light. I don't want you to be Kira. I don't want you to go to jail. I just want you to be my Light. The one I laughed with, the one I cried with, the one I told _anything and everything_ to… the one I can't live without. I'm sorry I made you mad! I shouldn't have said anything!" Light's grip on her shoulders lightened up and eyes widened as she hid her tears in her hands.

Light quickly pulled Kaori into a hug, rocking her back and forth and rubbing her back, "I'm sorry Kaori. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Kaori clung onto Light as sobs racked her body.

Finally her shaky breaths became even and Light felt all her weight shift onto him. Two red eyes watched Light as he carried the sleeping girl onto his bed.

"I didn't mean to make her break down," Light sighed, running a hand through his hair, "But how could L get Kaori involved in his _scheme_. I didn't want her to get involved." He paused to stare at Kaori's sleeping face. "I need to get rid of him fast. I won't let him ruin her life."


	11. Chapter 11: The Most Irritating Laugh

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

I want to thank KShires09 (aka Kate), TwilightXAngel, and Animelover1002 for leaving me reviews. I gladly appriciate it! It lets me know that I'm doing something right...On that note...

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori's eyes snapped open as she realized once again, that she wasn't in her bed, let alone her room. 'I need to stop doing this…' she thought as she sat up and rubbed her face. She looked to her right to find Light sleeping in a sitting position next to her, head leaning back against the head board. Kaori smiled softly as she looked at his face closely. She had an urge to kiss him on the cheek but some annoying laugh stopped her thought almost immediately. She looked to the front of the bed where the stalking shadow, which had bat-like wings, spiky black hair, and big bulgy eyes, floated.

"What the hell are you? And why are you always following Light?" Kaori whispered as she crawled toward the _thing,_ trying not to wake up Light

It's red eyes widened and laughter stopped when it realized Kaori could see it. "You can see me…?" the thing tilted his head in confusion.

"I have been… I just ignore you. Now answer my questions."

"I'm Ryuk, a shinigami. I follow Light because he has my notebook. Hyuk Hyuk" He started laughing like it was the obviously thing it the world.

"Wait…" the gears were turning in Kaori's head, "So the notebook, the Death Note, I handed Light a long time ago wasn't a hoax…." She gasped as it hit her hard: Light was Kira. Her hands covered her mouth to stifle any noise as she looked from Ryuk to Light and over again. 'That explains why he ditched me for a week, that's why he was uneasy around Hideki, and that explains the bus accident,' she thought to herself carefully getting up from the bed. She turned to Ryuk, "Do _not_ tell Light that I can see you."

"Why should I listen to you?" Ryuk chuckled.

"I'll give you whatever you want," Kaori compromised.

"Buy me apples." She quirk an eyebrow as the ugly shinigami grinned, pointing teeth glinting.

"Fine," she sighed walking to the door. Kaori looked back at the peacefully sleeping Light, with a loss of words, before heading home.

--

For the next four days, Hideki was ordering like a maid; at least he was asking in a polite way. But Kaori didn't mind, her mind was numb from every single thought that had crossed her mind since she realized Light was Kira. She got to sit down and think about it in Hideki's hotel room when they discovered that the Kira sending the tapes was a second Kira that needed only a face to kill. As the men talked among themselves, Kaori sat on the floor a little ways away from them, munching on a piece of chocolate cake Watari had kindly bought for her.

'So…why didn't he tell me that he was Kira? …Because who wants to know their best friend is a mass murderer. Then why did he ditch me? … He got too caught up in his killing spree. But why did he kill a hijacker on the bus to Spaceland? …Probably to learn about the FBI agents Hideki had mentioned to me. So… Should I tell Hideki that Light is Kira? HELL NO! So I should cover Light's ass? …damn…' She rubbed her face with her hands as she groaned with irritation.

"Kaori, are you alright?" asked Matsuda, the youngest person in the room after her and Hideki. He had long black hair and a cute face; he was the comedian of the group.

"You can sleep on my bed if you're tired, Kaori-chan," Hideki said not looking away from the TV screen.

"It's fine," she replied crawling onto the couch, "I'll just sleep here." Before anyone could object, if they would, Kaori fell asleep quickly from an over-worked brain.

But the nap came to an abrupt end when someone shouted, " K-Kira's powers?! What do you mean, Light?"

"Oof!" Kaori grunted as her body cam in contact with the floor.

"Kaori!" Aizawa helped her up as she lay sprawled on the floor. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," she yawned, "It's just that whoever yelled startled me."

"I'm sorry that was my fault," Mr. Yagami said pushing up his glasses.

"Oh, it's fin--Light? What are you doing here?" she asked as she spotted Light and Ryuk standing next to Hideki.

"I wanted to asked Light-kun to play the part of Kira," Hideki said before a word could escape Light's mouth. Every gawked at Hideki

"M…Me?" Light was semi-stunned.

"Yes, it should be easy with your abilities," Hideki answered. "We don't have much time, will you please write up a message from the real Kira that we can use during tonight's news?"

'Light looks really pissed,' Kaori thought as she chewed on her bottom lip.

As soon as Light agreed to the request, Hideki started giving orders. Soon, the response tape to the second Kira, was created, basically calling them out for being a fake and trying to bring them out of hiding.

--

Once the tape was sent to the news studio, Light and Kaori were allowed to leave. They walked in silence as they walked through the city, though Ryuk would not stop laughing his stupid laugh. Getting fed up, Kaori finally broke the silence.

"Light," she started, only to pause and think, 'Should I tell him now?' Light glanced over to her. She decided against it, "I'm hungry."

"So am I. Let's go to the coffee shop," he replied pointing to his favorite one.

"Sounds yummy," she smiled softly.

The two sat at a secluded table in the back of the coffee shop. Light was silently sipping his coffee and eating his salad and Kaori barely touched her water or sandwich. Tension thickly coated the air around the table.

Light was the first to break the strained silence, "Kaori what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," she stuttered, wincing at how unconvincing that sounded.

Light gave her _the look_, ya know, the one that makes people shift uncomfortably? That one look? Anyway, Kaori started fidgetting under his gaze, "Does it have anything to do with L?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I…I can't tell you."

"Yes you can."

"No I can't."

"Just say it!"

"No!"

"_Spit it out, before I make you!_" Light slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, glaring down at Kaori.

"FINE!" She said with a tomato colored face as she glanced at people who were now staring at them, "Just sit down." Light sat down as calmly as he could, which wasn't that calm. Kaori sighed, slowly blinking, before ruffling her hair. "I know you're Kira…"


	12. Chapter 12: Stupid Fake Kira

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry this took me so long to write and post. I was driving for 5 hours (6 including the time change) from Crown Point, IN to Powell, OH. Then I went out with one of my friends to dinner and then we dyed our hair. Thanks for the feedback too, and sorry this one's kind of short... Like a lot shorter than usual... Oh well...

ENJOY!!

* * *

_RECAP- Kaori sighed, slowly blinking, before ruffling her hair. "I know you're Kira…" -END RECAP_

Kaori watched as an array of emotions crossed Light's face in a split second before his face became calm.

"How could you accuse me of such a thing? What has L been doing to make you believe that shit?" Light asked, irritation seeping through his voice.

"Hideki has nothing to do with this. Now quit the act."

"I'm not acting, Kaori," he said her name to add a sense of innocence to the statement.

"Tell _that_ to the Shinigami laughing annoyingly next to you," Light glanced to the laughing Ryuk, shock and confusion written all over his face. "I told you before, I'm not stupid. So are you going to admit that you're Kira or what?" Light's eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled softly at him. Kaori reached across the table and held his hands in hers, "Whether you are Kira or not, Light, you'll always be my friend. I've always stuck by your side and I will continue to stick by you no matter what. I will never ever let anything bad happen to you, and _that's_ a promise."

After a minute of thinking, Light finally gave up. "When did you figure it out?" he sighed.

Kaori's smile grew, "I just figured it out this morning. Don't worry, Light, I'm still going to try and prove you innocence, so don't think I'll betray you."

"You always know what goes on in my mind don't you?"

"eh… not always, I'm just good at reading people." There was a slight pause.

"Kaori."

"Yeah?"

"You can let go of my hands now."

She flushed with embarrassment and quickly let go of his hands, "I'm so sorry!" Light just chuckled.

"Alright, Kaori," he said getting up, "I've got to go."

"Already?" she pouted.

"Yeah, need to do a project for college."

"Alright Light, I'll see you tomorrow." On that note, he left with Ryuk floating above him.

Kaori continued to sip her water and pick at her sandwich after Light had left. She sighed and rested her head in her hand. 'He's not happy that I know his secret,' she thought to herself. 'But then again, I wouldn't be happy if someone figured out my deepest darkest secret, especially if it was that I was a mass murderer… I'm glad he trusts me though, cause if he didn't, I wouldn't doubt that he would kill me in a heart beat…no pun intended.'

--

After two restless days of waiting for the second Kira's reply, it finally came in Sakura TV's mail. Kaori sat on the couch playing with the hem of her shirt as Light, Hideki, who also is know as Ryuzaki, Mr. Yagami, Aizawa, and Matsuda stood around talking about… detective things.

"Ryuzaki! We've received a reply from the second Kira," detective Mogi's voice cut across Hideki's labtop.

"Finally!" Kaori cheered, earning her weird looks from the guys. "What? I was bored."

Everyone crowded around the labtop, Hideki sitting in the chair in front of it, as Mogi continued to speak.

"…I will now send you a copy of what's on the tape."

A crude recording of letters spelling out Kira popped onto the screen, "Kira, thank you for responding," emitted a digital voice said, "I will do as you say. I want to meet you, Kira. I don't think you have the eyes, but I won't kill you. Don't worry." Kaori took a quick glance at Light, noticing his behavior.

"Having the eyes…? What does that mean?" Aizawa asked as everyone else was silent.

"Please think of a way we could meet without the police knowing. We can confirm each other when we meet by showing our shinigami."

THUMP

Hideki lay on his side as he fell out of his chair. "Are you okay, Ryuzaki?" Matsuda asked.

Kaori's face was full of fear and anger, 'Who the hell is this person?! They're so stupid! Do they realize that they aren't helping Kira at all?!' she thought gawking at the screen.

"Shinigami…? Are we supposed to accept the existence of such a thing…?" Hideki asked, shocked by the second Kira's proposal.

She looked at Light who gave her an 'Think of something!' face. But what could they do?


	13. Chapter 13: Shinigami are sooo not real!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Okay, Sorry this took so long to get out. I just got back today from visiting all my friends in Ohio. And I'm really not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter out. I'm moving into college on Sunday, so I'm packing tomorrow. I'll try to work on it but no promises. And sorry this one my seem kinda boring... but it was kind of necessary. Whenever I get the next one out, it'll be very up-beat, I promise!

ENJOY!!

* * *

"Shinigami? No way.." Matsuda vacantly mumbled.

After a short silence, Light finally spoke up, "You're right, Ryuzaki. Shinigami can't possibly exist." This statement caused L to turn his head back to Light as he still lay on the floor.

"Kira also made a prisoner write something that seemed to suggest the existence of shinigami…" L reasoned, not letting the mention of shinigami be set aside.

"Hideki," Kaori said softly, "I don't think they mean shinigami as in the god of death, but as in their ability to kill."

This caused L to have a thoughtful look on in face. "Yes…" he started as he straightened up his chair and sat down, "At the very least, we know that the word 'shinigami' has some kind of meaning between the two of them. We can try to set things up in order to learn more about this." Kaori gave an internal sigh of relief as her words seemed to work.

"Then shall we send another message?" asked a relieved Light, though he had his acting face on, "If we fish around too much without knowing anything, we'll reveal that we're not really Kira."

"No! From now on, we'll let Kira and the second Kira handle everything," L shocked everyone in the room, "We can assume that the second Kira is very happy right now after receiving a reply from Kira…even if he knows it was created by the police. He's succeeded in getting Kira's attention."

'Damn it,' Kaori thought while L gave a speech, 'Why is this so difficult? I need to think of a way to get L off Light's tail…' By the time Kaori caught back on, the speech was over.

"For now, let's gather all the evidence we can on the second Kira," L concluded.

--

The next day came slowly as Kaori sat around the hotel room, eating a piece of chocolate cake waiting for something interesting to happen.

The default ring tone of L's phone cut through the silence.

"Hello?" L paused for a minute, "Please bring it over as soon as possible…Thank you, Yagami-san." L closed his phone turning to where Kaori sat on the couch, "Kaori-chan, will you go and get Light?"

"Sure Hideki," Kaori said, setting down her cake and making her way out of the hotel.

--

"Light," Kaori said sitting on the boy's bed, "What are you going to do about the fake Kira?"

"Well," he started standing around his room in pajamas, "I need to get a hold of him before the police do, otherwise L will get a hold of the Death Note and I'll be caught."

"Well, as you think of something, get dressed. We need to meet Hideki back at the hotel." Light nodded his head in response as Kaori left the room.

--

L was already on Light as soon as he and Kaori walked into the hotel room.

"Light-san," L said holding up a piece of paper between his fingers, "Can you take a look at this diary page the second Kira sent?"

Kaori went back to her spot on the sofa as Light took and read the sheet.

"This person must be stupid," Light announced once he finished reading. Kaori took a bit of her cake as she glance over to Light. She noticed that he found something important by the look in his eyes.

"It may seem idiotic, but if we broadcast this, we'll have to cancel the game," L responded.

"Wait…what?" Kaori asked completely lost. Light handed her the diary page. She did a quick scan and the most important lines that popped out was '**22****nd**** My friend and I showed off our notebooks in Aoyama.**' and '**24****th**** I met a friend in Shibuya. We bought some clothes to wear this summer.**' She skipped down to the last line which read '**30****th**** We confirmed our Sinigami at the Giants game at the Tokyo Dome.**'

'Notebooks…' Kaori thought, handing the page to L, 'So the fake Kira expects to meet in Aoyama. Let's just hope Hideki doesn't pick up on it…'

L had paused to think of what to do. "…We'll go ahead and broadcast the Diary and announce the cancellation of the game. And the streets around the Tokyo Dome will be blocked off by the police…" Another small pause. "Assuming that the second Kira isn't stupid, we'll focus our attention on the other dates…" He read through some of the dates, including the 22nd. "This may be a waste of time, but let's go ahead and put cameras in Aoyama and Shibuya, just to be safe. We'll also have plainly clothed officers fill the streets during those days."

"But wouldn't that be dangerous for the officers?" Mr. Yagami asked worriedly.

"The second Kira shouldn't have a problem with it, since we'll be announcing that there will be an investigation at the Tokyo Dome. If he kills anyone, we'll capture him easily. Besides, I doubt Kira or the second Kira would kill regular people, and our officers will be regularly dressed. So people like Yagami-san, whose appearance screams out cop, will not be on the beat."

"I'll go!" Matsuda says almost instantly.

Before Kaori could say that she's willing to go, Light cuts her off, earning himself a side glance from her, "I'll go too."

"Alright," L confirmed, "We'll broadcast this diary tomorrow. Yagami-san, can you get cooperation from the police before tomorrow night's news?"

"Right, I'll do my best," Mr. Yagami said.

'Boy Hideki sure likes to repeat himself,' Kaori thought to herself as she stood up, once she realized the meeting was over.

--

Kaori and Light sat in a cap on their way home after the tiring meeting. The ride had been pretty silent until Light broke the silence.

"Kaori," he started, causing Kaori to turn and look at him, "I want you to get to Aoyama before the rest of us do." Light had finally turned his to meet her gaze. "I need you to get to try and get a hold of _him_ before anyone else does. Other wise, it'll be all over."

Kaori sighed, rolled her eyes, " Fine. But you owe me big time."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled at her, softness showing throughout his face.

She blushed and averted her eyes out her side window, 'This is going to be one long month….'


	14. Chapter 14: Food Poisoning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next...Oh well...

ENJOY!!

* * *

It was the 22nd of May and Kaori was out and about on the streets of Aoyama. She wore flared pants and a hard rock café t-shirt her brother got her when he visited America, along with a purse that hung around her hip.

'This is getting ridicules,' Kaori thought, looking to her left and right, 'Trying to find someone with a Death Note is proving harder than I _ever _imagined.'

Kaori had already embarrassed herself twice by going up to two random strangers with notebooks and soon finding out they weren't the fake Kira. She continued to weave in and out of stores and cafés with no luck. As she was walking along, Kaori spotted Light and Matsuda a few yards in front of her.

"Shit…" she mumbled ducking into the nearest café. She glanced at them through the glass windows, praising her luck that they didn't notice her. It would be bad if L knew that she was prowling around Aoyama when she told him she got food poisoning from the chocolate cake. She bought herself a drink and went to go sit at an empty table facing the entire café. No one was acting suspicious or was carrying a Death Note.

Kaori buried her face in her arms as she leaned down on the table. 'This is so exhausting,' she thought to herself, 'I've been up for almost 5 hours now and all I managed to do was embarrass myself….' Kaori lifted up her head and took a sip of her diet coke as she listened to other people's conversations.

"… The most awkward thing happened to me the other day…" Kaori looked over to a table of boys before going back to her drink. "…my sister totally walked in on me masturbating last night."

Kaori sputtered out her drink and started coughing really badly. She hid her cherry red face away from the boys table as they turned to look at her sudden coughing fit…talk about awkward.

Kaori stood up, still coughing, and made her way to the exit, bumping into a girl with glasses and short black hair.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Kaori said, face still red from embarrassment and the coughing fit.

"It's no problem!" she said a little too hyper. She bounce-stepped her way out the door as Kaori looked at her weirdly for the odd behavior.

'I think I'm going to go home,' she told herself as she walked out of the café. 'Light can kiss my ass if he gets mad that I left so early.'

--

"Did you have any luck?" Light asked Kaori as he shut and locked the door to his room.

"No but I did manage to embarrass myself at _least _a hundred times before I called it quits," Kaori replied on his bed once again; she was becoming quite fond of it. "I'm assuming you didn't have any luck either." He shook his head. "I hope we can get a hold of him before it's too late."

--

For the last 3 days, Kaori had been lounging around L's hotel room, eating anything chocolate that doesn't have to do with cake. He wouldn't allow her to "get" food poisoning again. It was now the 25th and the second Kira had claimed that they were able to find Kira. This information surprised everyone in the hotel room, especially Kaori and Light. 'How?!' Kaori was baffled, 'How could they have found Kira without either of us knowing?!'

"Found him? This is bad!" Aizawa exclaimed watching the screen of the labtop.

"Yes… So Kira and the second Kira have joined forces…" Mr. Yagami said, trailing off at the end.

"Not necessarily," L contradicted, "It's possible that the second Kira has only located where Kira is. At this point, the police will have to send out a message to the second Kira. We'll have the police offer the second Kira leniency in exchange for the identity of Kira. This will be even more effective if Kira doesn't know who the second Kira is yet…"

Kaori tuned out L's long drabble as she basically nodded off. Going from long, excessive lectures at college to going to L's hotel room and listen to him rant tends to ware down one's mental state. But before she could fall into a deep sleep, Matsuda woke her up once the meeting ended. And for the first time in the past 5 days, Kaori went straight home instead of to Light's house.

--

For the next week, nothing exciting happened at college or at the hotel room other than the second Kira broadcasted an announcement saying they gave up on trying to meet Kira, which only made L think that the two had gotten together. And every time Kaori tried to ask if Light had met the second Kira yet, he made up an excuse or avoided the subject completely. Eventually, he stopped hanging out with her after the meetings.

A frustrated Kaori walked on the campus of To-Oh University. Light's avoidance of any conversation of the second Kira was really starting to get to her.

"Kaori-chan," called a voice breaking her conversation in her head.

"Huh?" She looked around her trying to find where the voice came from.

"Kaori-chan… I'm on the bench." Sure enough, L sat in his famous position on the bench to her right reading a book. "Care to join me?"

"Sure, I have nothing better to do." She sat down with a sigh.

"You have seemed down this entire week," L said, watching Kaori with his owlish eyes.

"Eh… yeah, I guess I have been," she replied slumping down even farther. "Denji was supposed to be home within the next two days but his boss is making him fly to Australia instead." She decided it was best to leave out Light.

"Hmm…" was all L could get out before he noticed Light and his arm candy of the week walking toward them. "Oh, Light-kun. Hello." Kaori just looked at Light with no emotion on her face, making him suspicious.

"Takada," Light said turning to the girl on his left, "I'd like to talk to them in private for a moment. Can I see you later?" Kaori and Takada were having a staring, more like a glaring contest.

"Huh?" Kaori smirked as Takada broke the eye connection. "Oh… okay." With that, she left, but not without sending a glare toward Kaori.

"Light-kun," L started when everyone but the three of them were out of earshot, "I told Yagami-san, the other task force members and the other L's, that if I'm killed within the next couple of days, to assume that "Light Yagami" is Kira." Kaori's jaw dropped while Light _tried_ to keep his composure. Even Ryuk seemed quite shocked. "Oh. Did I not tell you? I'm not the only one who calls himself L. Let's just say L is a group of investigators."

'Was I supposed to hear this?' Kaori thought as her body became rigid. After what seemed her and Light semi-calmed down. L choose to ask a ridiculous question,

"Shall we get some cake from the cafeteria?" he asked the two, getting up from the bench.

Neither of them chose to answer, but simply went to follow him. But they didn't make it that far before a familiar voice reached Kaori's ears.

"Light!! There you are!!" Kaori, Light and L turned around to see a bounding blonde flying towards them. "I have a shoot near here, so I came by! Though I have to be back by 2 o'clock…" The girl continued to babble like an idiot.

'By the look on Light's face, this wasn't supposed to happen,' Kaori concluded, eyeing the blonde girl. '…where have I heard her voice before?'

"Two of your friends Light? He's really unique and cool," she said referring to L, "and she's really pretty and sweet looking," she said referring to Kaori

'Seriously… where have I heard her voice before?!' Kaori was starting to get aggravated.

"I'm Light's girlfriend, Misa Amane. It's nice to meet both of you." Light gave a nervous glance toward Kaori, knowing this would not work in his favor.

All the gears in Kaori's head stopped at the mention of _girlfriend,_ "E-Excuse me?!"


	15. Chapter 15: Arm Candy

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated recently. I just started college so I've been busier than ever. So thanks for being patient!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

ENJOY!!

* * *

_RECAP- All the gears in Kaori's head stopped at the mention of __**girlfriend**__,__ "E-Excuse me?!"-END RECAP_

Misa tilted her head gazing at Kaori, "Did Light not tell you that we're dating?"

"No, he didn't," Kaori fought hard to stay calm as she glared at Light. L decided to introduce himself before something bad happened.

"I'm Hideki Ryuga," he said stepping toward Misa and in between Kaori and Light.

"And I'm _leaving_," Kaori spat. She spun on her heel and started to walk away from the group.

"Kaori, wait!" Light called after her, the sound of his steps close behind her. Kaori continued walking away, her fists clenched from anger. He grabbed her arm as he finally caught up to her. "Kaori, wait. Just let me explain."

"I'm tired of waiting!" Kaori practically yelled, rage and sadness over whelming her. "I'm tired of you hiding things from me. I'm tired of helping you and not getting any appreciation for it."

"But I am, Kaori," Light replied, trying to calm her down from yelling by grabbing a hold of Kaori's shoulders. It didn't work.

"No you haven't. I've been busy doing you're dirty work and you go off and find yourself some more arm candy! I'm not a _maid_. I will _never ever_ be a maid; let alone yours! I hate you Light Yagami! _I hate you_!!" Kaori was so caught up in her emotions that she didn't realize that tears were starting to leak from her face. She ripped her arm from Light's grip, turned and ran as fast as she could away from him.

--

"I am NOT in love with Light!" Kaori screeched into her phone. It's been about two hours since Kaori met Misa, but it took Kaori an hour to calm down before she called Suki. She sat on her bed, a pillow on her lap.

_"Stop lying to yourself!"_Suki said, her voice emitting from the phone. _"Why do you think you get so jealous when Light get's a new 'girlfriend'? Or when he's just hanging out with another girl?"_

"I'm not jealous…" Kaori muttered, knowing Suki knew that was a lie.

_"Kaori,"_ Suki's voice sounded quite serious, _"I've known you for most of my life. I know you so well, that I can say, without a doubt that you are in fact, in love with Light Yagami._

Kaori sighed in defeat, "Alright, so I like him. It's normal though. So many people have crushes on their best friends."

_"But it's not normal to like your best friend for 10 years and NOT be in love with them."_

"But I don't love him!"

_"Yes you do."_

"GAH! I hate arguing with you," Kaori cried as she fell back onto her bed, phone still held at her ear.

_"Because you know I'm right."_

"Oh please! You're no--" the door bell cut Kaori off, "I'll call you back, someone's at the door." Kaori put down her phone and made her way down stairs and to the front door. She opened it to come face to face with Light. "Light…" Disdain was apparent in her voice.

"Kaori, I need to talk to you," Light pleaded.

"What is it?" she spat, still angry about the earlier event of the day.

"In private," he stressed, eyes piercing hers. Kaori gave an agitated grunt before Light continued, "We can either do this the hard way or the easy way."

Kaori clenched her jaw before opening the door wider. She turned around on her heel without a word and made her way over to the couch. Light shut the front door and went to stand in front of where Kaori sat on the couch. She just looked at him expectantly with crossed arms. Psh, like _she's _going to start the conversation.

Light stared down at her, his gaze holding hers, "Kaori, listen to me. Misa and I are _not_ dating." He paused and sighed, "Well, I told her that we can secretly date but--"

Kaori shot off the couch, "So you're lying to me _again_?!"

"I'm not lying to you." he stated calmly despite Kaori's reaction.

"You just tried to!" she screeched.

"The only reason I agreed to be her boyfriend is because she's the fake Kira."

"What?!" Kaori was flabbergasted, "How did you _know _she's the fake Kira? Did she just _walk up_ to you on the street saying that she was?!"

"No, actually, she dropped by my house."

"Do you say this about every random girl that shows up on your doorstep?"

"Kaori you know I don't do that."

"Frankly," sadness etched into Kaori's voice and eyes, "I don't know you anymore." Silence filled the room. There was barely any space between Kaori and Light, but neither of them seemed to notice.

Light's face softened, "Kaori, who was the one who gave me the Death Note?"

"What kind of question is that?" Kaori was oblivious to what was going through Light's head.

"Just answer the question."

"Me…"

"Who was the one who noticed all of my behavioral changes?"

"Me…"

"Who's the one who figured out that I'm Kira?"

"Me…"

"Who's the one who has a chance to tell L that I am Kira, but won't?"

"Me… Seriously, what does this have to do with anything?" Kaori was getting really impatient by now.

Light just gave her a small smile as he leaned his forehead against hers and lightly grabbed her wrists, "You say you don't know me, but you're probably the only person that does." That's when Kaori starting getting self conscious. Within all the years that she knew Light, he's never done this. "I know for a fact that you don't hate me because you still haven't told L who I am. I'm sorry that you've felt like you're being my maid. I've never tried to treat you like a maid, nor do I plan to in the future. Now I have just one more question to ask." Light took a slight pause, eyes closing slightly. "Who is the one person I can talk to about anything, to depend on? The one I know for a fact that, when mad at me, will always forgive me? The one who know me like the back of their hand? The one I never want to leave me?"

"…"

Light just smiled as he pulled away from Kaori, "I'm sure you'll figure out the answer to that question soon. When you do, I'm going to need all the help I can get from you." And with that he left, leaving her all alone in her house.

Kaori carefully sat down and tried to think. That didn't work out so great. It's not like she didn't want to answer him, it's that she couldn't physically answer him. Between Light's closeness and the last question he asked, Kaori thought her heart was going to explode in her chest.

As Kaori continued to sit on her couch, the ringtone of her cell phone cut through the silence. She quickly got up and ran up the stairs and into her bedroom.

"Hello?" she asked out of breath as she opened her phone.

"_Kaori, it's Mr. Yagami. I need you to come to the hotel as soon as possible. We have a suspect in custody that is believed to be the second Kira."_


	16. Chapter 16: How could you do this to me?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry everyone, but this chapter isn't really romantic at all, but I can promise the next one will be a blast to read. lol.

ENJOY!!

* * *

By the time Kaori made it to the hotel room, L, Mr. Yagami, Matsuda and Aizawa were crowded around a lab top; Watari had let her in. She turned off her phone and put her purse on a side table before taking cautious steps towards the group of detectives. None of them appeared to have heard her, let alone know that she's behind them.

"So who's the suspect?" Kaoir asked attempting to see the screed. Matsuda gave a small yelp while Aizawa, Mr. Yagami, and L just turned their heads to look at her.

"Kaori! You scared me!" Matsuda exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kaori gave him an apologetic smile, "I thought you heard me come in."

"How could you not here her?" Aizawa asked Matsuda, "Her phone made a loud noise when it turned off." Matsuda just made a face at him.

"Misa Amane is our suspect," Mr. Yagami finally answered Kaori long lost question. He moved aside to let Kaori get a look at the screen. The name of the suspect didn't register until she got a look at the lab-top.

"Holy shit…" She was stunned at the view. The suspect was strapped to a board that propped her up, blindfolded and gagged. 'That's the girl from yesterday. The one who claimed to be Light's girlfriend…' Kaori thought as her jaw slackened. "Don't you think this is really extreme?"

"As a suspect of being the second Kira, all safety precautions were taken to make sure one was or will be killed by her, if she is truly the second Kira," L stated, his attention back on the screen.

Kaori's eyes scanned over the girl, recalling all of the earlier events of the day, including Misa's claim to being Light's girlfriend to Light saying that he only agreed because she was the fake Kira to his last question; that made her flush. That's when it finally hit her, 'Shit… _she's_ the fake Kira! How did L know it was her?!' Thoughts raced in and out of Kaori's mind as she began to tremble and sweat from nervousness. 'Has she said anything? Why didn't Light kill her yet? I know he doesn't like having people know he's Kira. What's holding him back? Does he know that she's in L's hands? What should I do? If she's said anything, _**I'll personally kill her myself**__._' Her thought process stopped. Did she really like Light so much that she would kill for him? How did she really feel about Light? She mentally shooed away those thoughts and went back to the problem at hand.

"Did she say anything before you covered her mouth?" Kaori prayed her nervousness didn't leak into her voice.

"Nothing important," L replied.

"Though she did call L a pervert," Matsuda added.

'I could see why,' Kaori thought to herself.

L's cell phone began to ring. He grabbed it between his thumb and his pointer finger. "It's from Light-kun," he said. After a brief conversation, Light said his 'goodbye', "I understand. We're in K, room 2801."

"My son's coming?" Mr. Yagami asked, obviously confused.

"Yes."

'What are you doing Light?' Kaori asked in her head. 'Do you realize that may only make it worse for you? God… I hope you know what you're doing, cause I don't.'

--

Kaori waited nervously for about an hour before Light showed up, Ryuk in tow.

"Ryuzaki…" Light trailed off as his eyes met Kaori's, "As I said on the phone… I might be Kira." Kaori's eyes widened and jaw dropped while Mr. Yagami started freaking out.

"It can't be!!" yelled Mr. Yagami, grabbing a hold of his son's shoulders, "What are you saying Light?!" Kaori had no idea what to do. Obviously he was acting since Ryuk was chuckling behind him and his eyes were still tinted red. But L didn't seem to be buying the act like everyone else. She knew she wasn't a good actress, so she just watched the scene unfold.

Light began his act with saying that if Ryuzaki was really L, and that if L believed that he was Kira, then he probably was Kira. He recalled no memories of it, but thought of the possibility of being unconscious when killing people. After a little bit more of the act L finally seemed to give in.

"I don't really like where this is going but… Fine…" L paused as everyone watched him, "Light Yagami will be restrained and placed under confinement for an undetermined amount of time."

"I'll do it, but you have to agree not to let me out until you've determined for sure whether I'm Kira or not. No matter what I say, Ryuzaki," Light seemed to emphasize that part.

"I understand…" L replied.

'Ah….' Kaori thought as she watched Mr. Yagami try to protest his son being locked up in a jail cell. 'Light had wanted to be locked up so he knew when L would stop suspecting him… But, why the hell is he taking such great measures to get L off his back?'

Finally, Mr. Yagami gave in and watched as his son was put in hand cuffs and taken to his cell. Though, before Ryuk could follow Light to the cell, Kaori managed to catch his attention and directed him to follow her instead.

"…I think I need to go home… and….ya," she didn't really have to fake the fact that she was shocked because she kind of was. She made her way out of the room, with Ryuk floating behind her.

--

Kaori sat on her couch as Ryuk hovered in front of her eating an apple.

"I will let you go back to Light once I find out what's his real plan," Kaori stated, watching the shinigami carefully.

"mmhmm…" he munched on his apple, "Well Rem--"

"Who's Rem?" Kaori interrupted.

"He was Misa's shinigami, but since she gave up her Death Note, all memories of him and the notebook were forgotten by her. Anyway, Rem came and threatened to kill Light if anything happened to Misa, so he formed the plan to go and tell L that he could be Kira, be locked away in confinement, and try get rid of his Death Note and all memories, as well as L's suspicion." Ryuk took the finishing bite out of his apple.

"So you're saying that Light is going to give up his Death Note, so L can let Light go free."

"Yes."

"But when Light gives up his notebook, will my memories of you and the notebook fade?"

"No."

"So I'll remember everything… and know things that no one else knows?"

"Basically." That was it, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Go back to Light, I found out what I needed to know." Ryuk didn't object to Kaori's demand by the look on her face, and promptly left to go back to his 'master'.

Kaori was majorly pissed off, 'How could Light do this to me?! He told me, _promised _me that I wouldn't be his maid! But NO! He was just toying with my emotions, wasn't he? Cause now I'm the only one who knows the truth… I...I can't carry that burden all alone! I'm not stable enough to carry it alone! And I can't freaking confront Light about his, oh-so-perfect plan nor my feelings for him, because L's watching him _24/7_! How could he do this to me?!' Kaori curled herself into a ball on the couch. Tears were streaming down her face, 'If…if Light truly cares that I remain by his side, no matter what happens… then why does it seem like everything he's doing is just _hurting me_?'


	17. Chapter 17: I Lost My Phone

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Well, here's chapter 17! Make sure you read the note at the bottom!

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori sat numbly at L's side as she watched Light's long confinement. Within the first day into the event, Mr. Yagami seemed to crack under some of the pressure, for he too, was confined out of his own free will, but unlike Light, he wasn't bound and was able to keep his cell phone. Every day, Kaori sat next to L, watching Misa, Light, and Mr. Yagami from the screen of a computer. And every day, she hoped Light wouldn't leave her the burden of knowing the truth. But the 7th day of the confinement left her in shambles; Light got rid of his Death Note and all his memories of the truth. She knew it as soon as Ryuk merged into the cell wall, and by the changes in Light's eyes and behavior. She excused herself from watching any more of their confinement that day, saying that she couldn't bare to watch her closet friend and his father locked away in a cell.

--

After a week of doing nothing but sit around her house and avoid L's calls, Kaori finally decided to get a job to keep her busy and from having to go to the hotel. She was hired at a local pastry shop, working every day after college and during Saturday. Denji came home for a week, before leaving for New Zealand. Actually, Kaori forced him to go to New Zealand, because he noticed her odd behavior and wanted to make sure she was fine.

Now it's been a little over a month since Kaori started avoiding everything to do with the Kira investigation. She's in the back of the pastry shop working on the infamous chocolate cake.

"Carefully now Kaori," one of the co-workers told her, "Don't mess up that flower or else!"

"Or else what?" Kaori looked up from the cake, icing tube in hand ready to work its magic.

"You'll have to eat it!" Kaori just giggled, her co-worker joining her.

"Oh no! I can't let that happen!" sarcasm leaked from her voice.

"Kaori, you have a visitor," called the manager, who was working the cashier in the front. Kaori and her co-worker looked at each other with the same thought in mind; 'Who the hell visits someone at work?' She put down the tube of icing and made her way to the front of the shop. She wasn't really happy to see who her visitor was.

"Matsuda?" Kaori asked, really hoping it wasn't him, "What are you doing here?"

He looked at her sadly, "Where have you been Kaori? You're phone's been turned off for

a month now and you're never home!"

"Hehehe…" she nervously scratched the back of her head. How was she going to explain this? "Well, I've been basically at school and I ended up getting a job, so I haven't been home lately… And as for my phone… I lost it." 'More like I got a new number because you guys called me like 50 times a day,' she thought to herself, hoping Matsuda would buy her lie. And being the naïve person he is, he bought it.

"Well, Ryuzaki wants to talk to you now. When do you get off work?"

Before Kaori could lie and tell him in two hours, her manager answered for her, "Right now."

'Damn it…' Kaori thought as a grin appeared on Matsuda's face.

"Awesome, thanks," he said toward her manager. Without warning, he grabbed Kaori's arm and practically dragged her out of the shop and into the black car waiting outside.

"You know…." Kaori started a little peeved, "You could have asked me to hurry up."

"But L wants you like ASAP!"

"But didn't have to _drag_ me and practically _throw _me into the car!"

"Sorry," he apologized, rubbing the back of his head. It was silent for a couple minutes, "Is there something between you and Light?" Kaori sent him a glare to end all glares. "W-w-well, Light has been asking if you were locked up in a cell too, and that he wanted to talk to you. But L said no to both."

Kaori didn't respond. She just leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes, wishing she didn't have to do this.

--

The rest of the car ride was silent, along with the walk to the hotel room. Kaori stood in front of the open door, just staring into the room; her heart seemed to be clenched inside her chest.

"Come on Kaori," Matsuda encouraged her, already inside.

'Why does fate hate me?' Kaori sighed, taking baby steps inside the room, 'I really don't want to face L nor see Light at all, even if he's on a computer screen.'

She followed Matsuda into the lounge area of the room where everyone else was. Mr. Yagami and Aizawa sat in chairs watching as L connect himself with Light by a long hand cuff.

"Huh? What the hell?" Misa yelled at L, "I knew it! You **are** a pervert!"

"Light-kun, please shut Misa-san up," L demanded. They obviously didn't realize that Kaori and Matsuda walked in.

"Misa, don't be so difficult," Light said, "You were definitely the one who sent those videos. Be grateful that you're allowed this much freedom."

"Hey, what are you saying Light?" she asked, "I'm your girlfriend, right? You don't trust your lover?"

Light sighed, "Girlfriend…? All I know is that you say you fell in love with me at first sight and now you won't leave me alone."

'That's so not true,' Kaori thought, not happy what she was over hearing. 'You had let her be your girlfriend because she was the fake Kira…' Her heart gave a hurtful clench. 'I need to get out of here.' Unfortunately when she turned around, that movement caught L's eye.

"Kaori-chan," L called, stopping her in her steps, "For the past month, you've ignored my calls and managed to avoid contact with Mogi- san and Matsuda-san."

Kaori turned her head to look at L, "Sorry, I threw my phone of a bridge and I've been busy with college and my job."

"You told me you lost your phone!" Matsuda exclaimed.

"I did lose it… in the sea," she responded.

"Kaori, are you alright? They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Light asked with a look of concern on his face. She refused to acknowledge him.

"I'm going to get something to drink," Kaori stated blandly. She made her way to the kitchen, leaving behind a somewhat baffled room.

* * *

Alright, I hoped you enjoy the chapter... actually I hope you're enjoying the story. But I hate to say this, but it's coming to an end soon. How soon? I'm not sure but I would like to continue writing stories. Basically, I've been posting these stories on and I've made a poll, and you're welcome to go to it. It's going to help me decide what to write next once I finish this Light story. Alright, I'm putting the link on my profile, because obviously it hates being posted here...

Until next time!


	18. Chapter 18: The Sassy Pants Are On

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

This chapter is like...one big soap opera! lol. Please check out the link to quizilla on my profile page; it'll send you to my profile on quizilla so you will have the chance to vote for what story I'll write next.

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori sat on the couch, swirling her cup of water thoroughly not happy with the situation going around her. Misa was being really annoying, rubbing herself up against Light, saying that if he was really Kira, then she would love him even more. Yeah Kaori's mad at Light, but she can't deny her feelings for him. Anyway, L was telling Misa that she was being put under surveillance and that Matsuda would accompany her on private outings and model jobs. The Misa had to make a scene saying how she didn't want Matsuda to be her manager, which then got Matsuda all riled up. And during that entire time, Light was trying to catch her attention.

Finally, Kaori couldn't take it anymore, "Would you two shut up?! You're giving me a headache."

Matsuda turned toward her and apologized, "S-sorry."

"Alright Misa, let's go to your room," Aizawa said, obviously annoyed too.

"What?" she apparently didn't want to be away from Light. Aizawa had to drag her to her room. "Light, let's go on a date even if it was the three of us!" she cried just as the door shut and locked. Almost instantly, L turned to Light.

"Do you feel the same way about Misa as she does you?" L inquired.

"I already told you, it's a one sided love," Light stated, seemingly annoyed with L's question.

"Then could you act like you're serious about her? We know that she's the one who sent in the tapes and that she's in love with you."

Kaori took a gulp of her water, '….I wish I could drown away my memories with water…'

"Even if it's to solve the Kira case, I could never play with a woman's emotions like that," Light replied seriously.

Kaori had her sassy pants on today, "Could have fooled me…"

"Kaori!" Light said shocked by her comment.

She looked up feigning confusion, "Did I say that out loud? My bad."

"Kaori, what's wrong?" Light pleaded, not liking her coldness.

She ignored him again, "Huh… I ran out of water, better get some more." She got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen.

"Kaori…" the tone in his voice was painful for Kaori to hear.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaori asked, turning to face everyone in the room, but mainly Light, "I'm mad at you. You know, for two people to be very close, _both of them_ have to know each other like the back of their hand."

"Kaori, we are close, I'm just not psychic."

"Really? I couldn't tell," Kaori's voice was full of sarcasm.

"Fine," Light was getting angry with her. He turned to L, "If I am to go on any dates with Misa, Kaori _has_ to be there too."

"What?!" Kaori practically screamed, "I don't want to see you and your girlfriend suck faces!"

"We're _not _going to kiss because she's _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Bullshit!"

"I would never date her!"

"But the thing is, you are!"

Everyone in the room watched as the soap opera continued. Finally, Light got an idea on how to make Kaori be near him at all times, "Ryuzaki, if you want me to help you with this investigation, Kaori _must_ accompany us at all times." L put on a thoughtful face, as his mind began to race.

"…Fine…Kaori you are to accompany us, otherwise you will be put in confinement," L stated, wanting to use this to his advantage.

"You have no right to decide that!" Kaori was furious that Light would suggest that idea and that L would agree with it.

"Yes I do, in the name of innocent civilians and justice."

"This is so unbelievable!" And with that, Kaori marched into the kitchen, thinking of ways to get out of her predicament.

--

"I can't believe I had to come," Kaori muttered, her head in her hand as she leaned against the arm of the couch. Unfortunately she sat next to Misa, as L and Light sat on a couch in front of them.

"Umm…" Misa started, "This doesn't feel like a date at all…."

"Pay no attention to me," L said as he stuffed his face with various sweets.

"Well, if you could figure out how to break one of the windows, I'll gladly jump out of it," Kaori said, hating every moment she was in the room.

"Really?!" Misa sounded ecstatic as a smile came onto her face.

"**No**," Light interjected. That hit Kaori's nerve.

"What? Don't you want some alone time?" Kaori was teasing Light in a mean way; a very mean way.

"No I really don't," he didn't like the teasing one bit.

"Why did you even want me to be coming to your stupid dates anyway?" Light didn't answer which got Kaori worked up even more to the point that she was yelling. "Awesome! So I'm here because you wanted me to suffocate from all the love you share with Misa!"

"I'm not in love with her!! Why do you keep bring that up?!" Light, too, was yelling at this point.

"Has it ever occurred to you that_ I'm in fucking love with you_!" As soon as those words left her mouth, Kaori wished someone shot her dead right then and there. Misa shrieked from shock and started freaking out, L dropped a strawberry on the floor from surprise, and then there was Light. The look on Light's faced was one of all emotions compressed into one another. Kaori was shocked that she even admitted her deepest, darkest secret. Without a second thought, Kaori bolted into the bathroom locking it behind her.

She slid down the door as tears managed to spring from her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to stop them, they just kept falling. Kaori felt the door vibrating against her back as L's voice came to her ears.

"Kaori-chan, come on out," L wasn't the most sensible person in the world.

"…I'll come out later…" Kaori replied meekly. A pause of silence followed her plan."

"Fine, just don't drown yourself in the tub." Talk about encouraging. Even through her tears, Kaori had to smile at that. L may have not meant that to comfort her, but it _slightly_ lightened her mood.

Kaori curled into a ball on the tile floor, exhaustion poured over her body '…Why does it seem like my life is starting to go downhill…'


	19. Chapter 19: A Fight with the Shower

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Here's chapter 19. It took me so damn long to write... it ended up being a pain in my ass... so you better like it.

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori found herself on the floor of the bathroom when she woke up.

"Gah… I feel like shit…" she grumbled as she sat up. The tile was cold underneath her and it didn't help that it was just overall freezing in the bathroom.

'I need to get warmed up,' she thought, rubbing her goose bump-covered arms. '…mmm…shower…' Within seconds, Kaori had crawled over to the tub and turned it all the way on hot. 'This is going to feel amazing.' She didn't bother taking off her clothes as she stepped into the oncoming water.

"Ooooooouch! That's too hot!" Kaori gritted her teeth as the body parts that were touched by the scorching water were now red; even the clothes didn't help. Making sure she was out of the way of the water, she reached around to turn the knob toward the middle of hot and cold. Within less than a minute, it was perfect, so she sat in the middle of the tub. She closed her eyes and brought her knees underneath her chin. The water soaked her clothes and hair. Little droplets of water flew from her lashes. Kaori ended up sitting there for a good half an hour before getting out. Taking a warm shower always seemed to clam and relax her nerves and wash away unwanted memories or emotions. She stepped out into the steaming bathroom, tile no longer cold. She didn't bother drying off as she unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out.

She noticed Misa was gone, but Light and L were still there, now looking at her.

"How long was I in there?" she asked them as drops of water fell from her hair.

"Three hours and twenty six minutes," L replied.

Kaori was stupefied, 'That's it? I could have sworn it's been at least a day…'

Light stood up, "What happened?!"

"I got into a fight with the shower and I lost," she said, like it was the most obvious thing.

"Ryuzaki, can I talk to Kaori privately," Light asked, not taking his eyes of the dripping wet girl.

"Go ahead and talk to her," L replied munching on a strawberry.

"I want to talk to her privately." L just looked at Light, obviously got getting the hint.

"Don't bother, I need to go home and change," Kaori said picking at her heavy clothing.

"You're not authorized to leave, Kaori-chan," L finally said, turning to her.

"What? But I need clothes!"

"Borrow some of Misa's. I'll have Watari escort you to her room."

"Ugh… Now I'm going to look like a whore…" Kaori muttered, seeing the old man walk into the room.

"Kaori, if you would follow me please," Watari said, bowing slightly.

"Of course," Kaori replied, smiling at him. 'At least someone's still nice to me,' she thought as she followed him out of the room and down the hall to Misa's room. Watari knocked on the door and opened it with a key.

"Misa, Ryuzaki requests that Kaori borrow your clothes," Watari said, no true emotion in his voice.

Misa just looked at Kaori. "Oh wow, what happened?" she inquired.

"Shit happened," Kaori responded, not really liking the idea of borrowing clothes from the crazy girl; not that she was completely sane herself.

"Well, come on, Misa will fix you up," she said giving Kaori an incredibly fake smile. Before she could reply, Kaori was yanked into her room, door shut behind them.

"Hmm…" Misa said as she rummaged through her closet. She tossed Kaori light blue skinny jeans and a black Zelda shirt.

"Thanks…" Kaori muttered using the bathroom to change. In the bathroom, she used the blow dryer to dry her hair and then changed after she toweled herself off. When she was done, she looked in the mirror. The jeans fit her perfectly despite the fact that she had hips and the t-shirt hugged the natural curve of her body. Her eyes travel to her face. 'I look pathetic…' she sighed at her thought before going back into the room with Misa.

"You can keep those clothes," Misa said as soon as Kaori stepped out, "They're too big for me and my x-boyfriend bought them for me."

'Is she calling me fat?' she questioned silently. "Umm… thanks?" Kaori didn't really know what to say. An awkward silence followed quickly after. "Well… I'll be going now, thanks again."

"Kaori," Misa called out when Kaori's hand touched the door knob. Kaori looked over her shoulder, "You know you have no chance with Light since we're dating right?"

Kaori looked down at the door knob, no emotion on her face, "Yeah… I know." She left shortly after that.

When she got out into the hall, she looked around but Watari was gone and no one else was around. That's when she got the idea to leave. Quietly, she snuck through the hall, peeking around corners, waiting for someone like Matsuda to pop out and yell, "Stop in the name of the law!" because he would totally do that. But when Kaori made it down to the lobby, she knew she was in the clear. If L and the investigation crew didn't stop her before then, then she was a free as a kite in sky.

--

Kaori sat on a bench on the edge of a park in downtown. The Sakura trees were in full bloom and the leaves cascaded all around her. She watched solemnly as couples passed her, holding hands and eyes full of love. Children ran past her playing their silly games of tag and make-believe.

'I feel so out of place…' she thought, seeing everyone in couples, including those with dogs and puppies. 'Even the dogs can find mates! ...this is so pathetic…' She sighed as she got up to leave. Kaori made her way to the exit, thumbs latched onto her front belt loops and eyes focused on the ground. But she soon stopped. There was a pair of halted feet in front of her, and those shoes looked all too familiar. Her hazel eyes traveled up the person in front of her noticing their khaki pants, to their nice button up shirt, to their brown eyes and brown hair.

"Light…" Kaori breathed obviously confused as to why he was alone, "Where's Ryuzaki?"

"Right over there," he replied pointing to the awkward man on a bench not too far away. "He only agreed to let me come here to talk to you privately if I was wired and he could see me."

"But there really isn't anything to talk about," her eyes softened.

"Kaori, you can't tell me that you love me and expect not to hear an answer."

"But I already know what that answers going to be. So why should I need to hear it?"

"Because knowing you, you would have the completely opposite idea…you always do."

"Light I'm really not in the mood to hear anything," she tried to make her way around him, but he just stepped in front of her, stopping her. "Seriously Light, just please let me leave. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm pmsing. That's not a good combination."

He rolled his eyes at her comment, which gave Kaori some time to sneak past him. She sighed thinking that she was in the clear. Oh how she was wrong. A sharp tug on her wrist forced her to face Light. He embraced her in a tight hug, not letting her be able to fight free.

"Kaori, you need to stop acting like a smartass and listen to what I have to say," his face was inches away from hers.

"Can you let me go first?" Kaori asked, feeling her cheeks heat up from their closeness.

"No, I like holding onto you." He smiled softly leaning his head forward so his lips were right next to her ear.

"L-l-light, what are you doing?" Kaori quivered as she felt his lips feather kiss from underneath her ear and make a path along her jaw.

He slowly looked up at her face, their noses brushing slightly, "Something I've been wanting to do since the day I fell in love with you…"

"Light! Y-you can't do this! You're dating Misa, she's your girlfr--"

Her eyes widened as his lips were pressed against hers. But within a second, she went against her better judgment and kissed him back, closing her eyes. His hold on her loosened enough for her to put her arms around his neck, so she could make it deeper. All her emotions, sadness, anger, confusion, all of them were washed away by the power, the meaning, of the kiss. Kaori pulled away from the kiss first.

"Light…" she muttered opening her eyes and casting a glance toward L's bench.

"hmm?" he hymned leaning his forehead against hers.

"I think Ryuzaki was watching the entire time."

Light didn't even bother to look at the detective as laughed lightly, "Who cares?"


	20. Chapter 20: Matsuda's an Idiot

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry this took so long... I've been busy and I needed to freshen up in my Death Note knowledge. And college has been keeping me busy. This one's long and kind of boring, but it's important to the plot.

ENJOY!

* * *

Kaori sat in a room of her own at the hotel L had constructed for the Kira case. Actually, L gave her an entire floor to stay in, so she told Denji that she got a dorm room in college so she could get the 'college experience'. Anyway, it's been about a week since Light had confessed his feelings for Kaori and a week ago, Kaori would have said life was all fun and dandy. But if someone asked her how everything was now, she'd just sigh and ignore them. Light was back to being chained to L so they didn't have any private time, not that they did when they kissed. And since Light's always with L, Kaori was always with Misa and Matsuda; she had the job of being Matsuda's assistant. In the end, Kaori and Misa would always get into fights, and because of that, you'd think that L would just let her stay with him and Light. But no, L was being a jerk and stuck her with Matsuda and Misa. At least she liked Matsuda.

Now she found herself looking through the ceiling-to-floor window, watching as the world just passed her by. Kaori didn't really want to go on Misa's movie set but she was kind of forced to. She was biting her finger nails, a habit that she seemed to do when she was deep in thought.

Kaori's mind was winding back to the moment when Light lost all memory of Ryuk and the Death Note. '…What should I do? Should I tell Light that he was Kira? Well, it's not like I could tell him since he's chained to L… and even if he wasn't…I don't think he'll take it well. But I do need to talk to him about us and what the hell is going on, and it would nice to know soon.'

Kaori took once last glace at the world below her before she made her way to the bathroom. The night before, she had set out her clothing; a black short-sleeved shirt and gray plaid pants with really thin black, pink and white strips. She put her medium length hair in a ponytail, leaving down her bangs which showed off her two pairs of piercings and pierced cartilage. Once Kaori was done in the bathroom, she put on black flip-flops before making her way done the hall and into the elevator.

The elevator doors opened with a ding in the basement level of the hotel. She continued her journey down the hall before she made it to the big computer room where L and Light sat in their rolling computer chairs looking at the screens. Her feet tapped quietly as she made their way toward them. She stopped right beside Light's chair, bending down to look at his computer screen.

"So what's the deal? Have we pin-pointed Kira yet?" Kaori asked, not fully up to date with the new Kira situation.

"Light-kun found all the recent deaths caused by heart attacks. And ruling out the criminal deaths, there was a small amount of killings in a company called Yotsuba," L answered. Light had taken that time to look over to Kaori and tuck her bangs behind her ear. She blushed at the touch of his hand caressing her cheek right before he tucked away her hair. But as quick as that happened, it was gone.

"So, we know Kira's working in that company, and it's likely that it's one of the workers who had been promoted to one of the top 8 spots. We don't know who it is, let alone who are in those positions," Light concluded. During the explanation, Matsuda had opened the door and waited for them to finish.

"Kaori, let's go! Misa's going to be late to the set!" He yelled across the room.

"Matsuda, we're not deaf," L stated, causing Matsuda to become slightly down.

Kaori rolled her eyes before making her way toward the door. "I'll see you two later," she called over her shoulder.

As soon as Kaori and Matsuda stepped into the elevator, Matsuda opened his mouth, "Ryuzaki doesn't give me any credit for the stuff I do."

"Well, what do you expect?" Kaori said, not trying to be rude, "It's L, probably one of the smartest men I know. To him, all of us, including you and me, don't measure up to him in intelligence. But that doesn't mean he doesn't like us as people."

Matsuda just sighed as they continued their journey to the set with Misa.

--

Kaori stood next to Misa's chair with Matsuda, watching the making of the movie. It was a beautiful day outside even though the wind was really nippy. But the production was on pause for the moment since Misa was arguing with the director about god-knows-what.

"Matsui, don't you think that the guy actor kind of looks like Ryuzaki with the hair?" Kaori commented, obviously bored with nothing really happening. When Matsuda didn't answer, she looked over to him. "Matsui? What's wrong?"

"We're staying late tonight right?" he asked suddenly.

"Y-Yeah." Kaori was confused.

"Alright, I'll be back later then." With that, he ran off.

"Wait!" Kaori tried yelling after him, but he just kept running. 'What the hell is going in this guy's head?' she thought to herself, watching him disappear in the distance.

"Hey, where's Matsui?" Misa asked as she walked over to her chair.

"I have no idea," Kaori replied as she chewed on her bottom lip. "He just randomly ran off…"

"Sheesh! What kind of a manager _is_ he?"

"Umm….no idea." There was an awkward silence that went on for about thirty minutes. Why did it go that long? Simple. Kaori didn't want to talk to Misa. Finally, the production was back on so Misa went back to work.

"Matsui has been gone for a while. Maybe I should call Light or Ryuzaki…" Kaori muttered to herself, checking her watch. She pulled out her phone and called Light.

"Hello?" Light's voice came over the speaker.

"Light, Matsui disappeared over an hour ago and hasn't been back," Kaori said, "He basically ran off to wherever he went without giving me one hint to where he was."

"We know," he replied.

"What? How?"

"Misa is on the phone with Ryuzaki and Matsuda at the same time." Kaori looked over where Misa was standing and sure enough, she was standing there holding two cell phones. "He went to Yotsuba, being as stupid as he is. Look, I don't want yo--" His voice cut out as L took over the phone.

"Kaori-chan, I want you and Misa to go where Matsuda is and persuade the men to go over to Misa's hotel room and have a party. That way we can surveillance them and try and get Matsuda out of his predicament." Kaori continued to listen as she heard some movement and yelling in the back ground. After a minute he returned, "Understood?"

"Of course. Bye." Kaori hung up the phone and walked over to Misa. "Come on," Kaori said, "Matsui needs a superhero."

--

Kaori and Misa walked their way into the Yotsuba building and onto the 19th floor. Misa had changed into skimpy clothing while Kaori kept in her original state. When they reached the room where the meeting was held, Matsuda greeted them right away, obviously uncomfortable in the situation he created for himself.

"Sorry for the wait!" Matsuda said with relief, "Here's Misa Amane." Kaori looked around the room, noticing 8 men in business suits. 6 out of the 8 were as ugly as hell, while two of them were pretty handsome. One of them reminded her of Light with his hair, but he wore glasses, and the other one had long black hair that just made him look more attractive.

"And who is the other girl?" One of the ugly guys asked.

'Matsuda **would** forget to introduce me,' Kaori thought. "I'm the assistant manager, Umeko Yamaji. Nice to meet you all." She put on her best fake smile. She heard a couple of the guys mumble something, but she couldn't hear them.

"Hey!" Misa interrupt the silence, "Why don't we go over to Misa's large place and have a party with tons of girls from the agency!"

The guys looked at each other before one of the stood up, "Well… I'm going." A round of agreements followed.

"Awesome! Let's go!" Misa cheered.

--

"Here! Have another drink."

The party was working out perfectly for Matsuda. Most of the guys were pretty wasted. Thankfully, Misa and the other models have been attracting the attention of the guys so Kaori sat there sipping on a diet coke, waiting for something interested to happen. She didn't have to wait that long, the handsome long haired man sat next to her.

"You're Umeko right?" he asked, no hint of alcohol in his breath.

"mmhmm," she replied smiling at him, "And you are?"

"Reiji Namikawa. So how did you become assistant manager of Misa?

"Well," Kaori was having problems thinking of something, "Actually… I have no idea." Well, it was the truth. Reiji just laughed. "God, I probably sound stupid, and I haven't drunk anything…" she muttered.

He shook his head, still chuckling, "It's fine. Are you still in college?"

"Yep," she said, "I'm actually majoring in Linguistics. I was thinking about finding a job as an interpreter, so I guess that's how I became an assistant manager.

"What languages are you taking?"

"I'm taking German, Chinese, and English."

"I lived in America for 6 years before I came back here."

"Really? That's awesome, my brother travels to America at least 3 times a year. I heard it's amazing out there."

"Oh it is."

Before Kaori could continue their conversation, her phone went off. "I'm sorry, my friend is calling me," she said, getting up and walking to a more quiet area. "What do you want Light?"

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed into the phone.

"I'm talking to one of the guys, what's the problem with that?"

"He may be Kira!"

She rolled her eyes, "So? I don't understand why you'd care." Oops.

"What do you mean? I love you and you supposedly love me back. But now you're off chasing some other guy."

"What are you _talking_ about?! We are not flirting and I don't even like him! And besides, it's not we do anything anyway!" The line became quiet.

"It's not like I could being attached to L…"

Kaori sighed, "I know. I just really wish we could have more time together and you could get Misa to back off."

"Kaori, I have to go. Our plan's coming into action. I'll see you later."

"Wait!" Light already hung up. Kaori sighed as she went back over to Reiji. "Sorry about that, my friend was having a hissy fit."

"It's fine…" he gaze had shifted from her to the balcony of the room, "What is Matsui doing?"

"Huh?" she whipped her head toward where he was looking, only to find Matsuda doing a hand stand on the edge. "Matsui!" She screamed running toward him. But she was too late; he fell off the edge.

"MATSUI!!"


	21. Chapter 21: Insensitivity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry this kind of took long, and I kinda feel like the story's going nowhere, but that's just me. lol. Just to let you know, the end is in site, but I won't tell you how close I am to finishing, just because I don't feel like telling you. Alright...

ENJOY!

Warning: Contains curse words, so be careful!

* * *

"Matsui!!" Kaori yelled running over to the balcony. Tears were falling from her eyes as she spied his body on the concrete. "Matsui!" Even though Matsuda was not the sharpest tool in the shed, he was her friend. And watching a friend fall to their death is not the most pleasant feeling in the world. She became numb to the situation around her, she didn't even notice that she was leaning off the balcony until arms wrapped themselves around her, snapping her back into the present. The arms carried her back to the room, finally letting her go. She turned her teary eyes toward the owner of the arms, coming face to face with Reiji.

"Umeko come on," he said tugging on her arm, "We have to get out of here." Through Kaori's perspective, everyone in the room was in slow motion; their movements smooth and flowing, but there was no sound. She watched Reiji's lips move, but no sound come out of them. He finally gave up and grabbed her wrist, following the rest of the people to the scene on the ground.

When they actually made it onto the street, an ambulance was already there, the body covered up and heading toward the back of the vehicle. Kaori's eyes never left the covered body, tears still spilling out of them. She watched as the ambulance drove away and as Reiji placed a slip of paper into her hand. She didn't register Misa guiding her back into the hotel and into Kaori's room.

"Get some sleep," Misa said cheerfully before she left. Kaori glared at her back as she came back into reality.

'What an insensitive bitch!' she snarled in her head. Collapsing on her bed, her eyes immediately closed as she was lured into sleep.

--

Kaori walked solemnly down the hallway to the computer room, where everyone else was waiting…except for Matsuda. When she woke up at noon, she started crying again as the night before came rushing back into her head. Now her eyes were trained on the ground, looking mindlessly over the tile. She stopped in front of the door, not really wanting to see everyone's reaction to Matsuda's death. Taking a deep breath, Kaori opened the doors, to find everyone crowded around the computer screens; the profiles of the eight business men from last night were up on the screen.

"Kaori! You look sleepy even after 12 hours of sleep," as voiced called to her as she walked closer. She stopped in place as her face started to drain from color and lifted her head towards the speaker, eyes widening and jaw dropping.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she screeched pointing at the living Matsuda.

"W-w-what d-do y-you mean?" Matsuda was taken back from her sudden outburst.

"You're supposed to be DEAD!!" Kaori was starting to hyperventilate.

"Did someone not tell her the plan?" Mr. Yagami asked, making his way towards the shaking girl.

"What plan?!" Kaori was utterly confused as to what was going on. At Mr. Yagami's touch on the shoulder, Kaori jumped.

"Shit…" Light muttered, realizing his mistake. He never really told her what the plan was. He quickly got up, dragging L with him. "Kaori calm down, we had formed a plan to have Matsuda fake his death."

"How can I calm down? You can't… you can't do that!" she yelled backing away from everyone.

"But you're reaction to the 'death' easily convinced everyone in the room to believe it," L stated. Obviously he didn't realize that he didn't help the situation until too late.

BAM!

The heel of Kaori's foot connected with L's cheek as she round-house kicked him in the face, sending him flying to the side. The force of the kick broke the chain between him and Light, leaving everyone in the room stunned.

"You BASTARD! How dare you!" Kaori was beyond the point of self-control, "You are so fucking INSENSITIVE! You have no right to let me believe that someone I care about DIED! I don't care if you're fucking GOD! I HATE YOU! I wish that Kira would strike you dead this very moment! You have no right to screw around with people's emotions! I hate you! I _hate _you!" Light wrapped his arms around Kaori's shoulders. "Let me go!" she screamed struggling to get out of his hold.

"Kaori calm down," Light murmured into her ear, still having troubles holding her down.

"No! Let me go! Please! For the love of god! Let me go!" Tears were leaking down her face. Matsuda and Mr. Yagami were helping L up from the floor. He had a massive bruise starting to form on his cheek.

"Calm down…" Light said burying his face into her should. Finally Kaori gave up. She slumped back against Light's body, covering her tears in her hands.

Light tightened his grip around Kaori's shoulders, "I'll take her up to her room." He led Kaori out of the room before anyone had the chance to object. Out in the hallway, Light picked her up and carried her to his room.

Shutting the door with his foot, he walked over to his bed and set Kaori down. Her eyes were out of tears, leaving her eyes red and puff. No sound came of her slightly opened mouth as she looked up at Light, eyes glazed over.

"Kaori," he said, pressing his forehead against hers. She continued to look at him; her gaze just seemed to go past him as if he wasn't even there. He sighed gently pushing her down. Almost instant her eyes closed as she fell asleep.

Light continued to watch her as she slept. He leaned down to kiss her lips but was interrupted by the door creaking open. He quickly sat up and glared at L, who stood in the door way with a patch over his cheek. "What do you want?" He wasn't really happy about L causing Kaori to lose her self-control.

"I need to ask a favor of Kaori-chan," he said simply.

"She's asleep. What's the favor?"

"Reiji Namikawa gave Kaori his phone number and email address. I want her to try and pry information out of him."

"No. The conman you hired is already doing that by pretending to be a hitman. She doesn't have to do that."

"After observing Namikawa in the meeting, he's most likely not to be Kira and easily influenced."

"Then _I_ will persuade him to talk."

L sighed, "Fine." Without another word, he left, shutting the door behind him.

Light sighed and laid down next to Kaori's sleeping body. "What's happened to you Kaori?" he muttered to himself, watching her sleep. "Ever since I came out of my confinement, you haven't acted yourself. You've become more on edge, more weary of what's happening around you… Great, now I'm talking to myself." It took Light an hour to clear his head of any thoughts before he finally managed to fall asleep.


	22. Chapter 22: You're a Sexy Beast

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Here's chapter 22! Woot! Unfortunately, the story's going to end soon, so enjoy it while it lasts. This chapter is basically for the fun of it, and is just full of fluff. lol. Oh well...

ENJOY!

* * *

It was around 9am the next morning before Kaori finally woke up. With her eyes still closed, she snuggled into the soft object beside her, inhaling the scent. She sighed contently at the smell of soap and coffee; it smelled a lot better than it sounded. Kaori eye's snapped open as the soft object shifted closer to her and sighed. Her cheeks flushed as she realized her head was buried against Light's chest. His arms were wrapped around her waist and their legs were tangled together.

Kaori attempted to wiggle out of Light's grip without waking him up, but his grip on her only tightened. She froze thinking that he was awake. Slowly, she looked up into his face; his eyes were still closed and his breathes were deep and even.

She let out a small sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness he didn't wake up,' she thought, still trying to figure out how to get out of this situation, 'Well…it's not like I don't enjoy this, but geez! This is so embarrassing for me!' Finally she managed to get out of his grip. She quickly gathered up an outfit and quietly went into the bathroom, locking the door.

After taking a 15 minute shower, Kaori blow dried her hair and got dressed in a Ninja Turtle t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She paused to look in the mirror before she left. "Wow…" she muttered, "I need to get a haircut."

She walked back into the room to find Light dressed and sitting on the bed. "Morning Light," Kaori said, flushing slightly.

He smiled at her as he got up off the bed, "Morning…Cute shirt."

Kaori laughed, eyes shining brightly, "I thought you might like it. Do you remember when we would always watch that TV show together?"

"How could I not? That was your favorite show, and whenever you missed it, you would have a hissy fit." He chuckled grabbing her hand and leading her out the door.

"I would not!" Kaori gasped. That only made Light chuckle some more. By the time they had made it into the elevator, the two were in silence. But it wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one.

Kaori looked down at their entwined hands, a soft smile appearing on her face. 'I never imagined this would happen,' she thought happily, leaning her head back. 'I really do love him, but I will never forgive him for erasing his memories of Ryuk and the Death Note. That was just uncalled for.' Kaori took a side glance at Light, before sighing and looking back to the elevator doors. 'I'm surprised I haven't gone mental….insane yet. But I wonder what he'll say if I told him…' Kaori stole another side glance at Light, this time theirs eye connected. She quickly looked away.

"Kaori… what's wrong?" Light asked, gripping her hand a little tighter.

Kaori pulled her hand out of his and turned her body toward him. "Light, what would you do if I told you that you were…" Kaori drifted off. 'Maybe I shouldn't tell him,' she thought, biting her lower lip.

"If I was…?" Curiosity was apparent on Light's face.

Kaori shifted in her spot and sighed with annoyance, "What if you were…" She huffed. 'I don't even think I can say it!' she thought, pacing a little bit.

"Kaori," Light was getting annoyed, "Spit it out."

"Gah! What would you do if I told you that you were k--"

"Light!" Misa screamed as she appeared to pop up out of nowhere.

"AHHHHHH!" Kaori screamed, nearly having a heart attack. Apparently Kaori was too concentrated on what she was saying to hear that the elevator doors had opened. Light was surprised too, but she could only tell by his widened eyes.

Kaori put a hand on her chest, trying to calm down her racing heart. When she finally did, she noticed the elevator was moving down again and Misa was all over Light.

"Oh Light! Misa Misa has missed you so much! You never came to visit me last night like you said you would!" Misa exclaimed, latching onto his arm.

"I never said that Misa," Light corrected her as he tried to pry her off of him. He gave up and turned to Kaori with an 'I-did-NOT-ask-for-this-to-happen-so-help-me-out-here' face. Kaori just scuffed at him and pressed the next level that they were coming to, which happened to be level 14. "Kaori what are you doing?" Light asked, watching her walk out of the elevator as soon as the doors open.

"It's your problem so deal with it," Kaori said over her shoulder, making her way to the stairs.

"Kaori!" he yelled after her, but she didn't hear him after she went into the stairwell.

"Why did L have to put me on level 23?" Kaori grumbled, making her way down to the ground level with the computer room.

Before she made it a flight down, the doors from level 14 slammed open.

"Kaori!" Light yelled, running down the steps. "Stop!"

"Nope," Kaori said, picking up her pace, "I don't feel like it."

"Well, at least tell me what you were trying to say in the elevator!"

"I can't recall!"

"Bullshit! Now tell me." Kaori looked behind her, 'Shit! He's a frickin' speed demon! And we're only on level 6.'

By the time Kaori had made it to the ground level, she was out of breath. 'Yes! The home stretch!' But for she could take the first step of freedom, arms wrapped around her.

"Gotcha," Light's voice whispered into her ear, making her shriek and try and get out his arms. "Oh no you don't!" Light was chuckling at her failed attempts to get away from him.

"Liiiiight!" She whined, "Let me gooooo!"

"Not until you tell me what you were going to say elevator," Light demanded, flipping Kaori around so she was facing him.

"What would you do if I told you that you are one sexy beast and would totally do you?" Kaori blurted out before it even registered what she said. '….woooooooooooooow….' was all that ran though her mind.

Her wandering eyes finally focused on Light's face. And almost immediately, she started cracking up; his face was priceless! He eyes were so wide that he didn't look Asian anymore and his jaw practically hit the floor. On top of that, he was as red as a tomato, which never happened before.

Kaori burst into laughter as she pulled away from the gaping boy and continued to run to the computer room.

She stepped into the room still laughing her head off. Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, Mogi, and L stood facing the door, as if they expected her. Her laughing stopped once she saw L's face; it had a bruise that took up the entire side of his cheek. Then it all came, his insensitivity, the kick, and the screaming. That instantly put her into a bad mood.

"Kaori-chan," L said, surprising Kaori by still saying 'chan'. "I need you to get close with Reiji Namikawa and figure out whether he's Kira or if it's one of the other 6."

"Why should I? And weren't there 8 in total?" Kaori asked, crossing her arms.

"One of them has been killed by Kira and because it's for the greater good," L replied.

"Ryuzaki!" Light practically yelled as he slammed open the doors; his face was still flushed. "I told you I would get to Reiji, Kaori doesn't need to be risking her life."

"I was just merely asking her, if she would, Light-kun," L said, "I wasn't going to force her to do it."

Kaori just sighed as tension had weaved itself into the atmosphere. 'This is going to be another long ass day,' she thought popping a squat on the couch in the middle of the room.


	23. Chapter 23: A Plan of Her Own

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Wooo!!

ENJOY!!

* * *

Kaori sighed with aggravation from the couch. It's been no more than 20 minutes since Light had called Reiji (from the number he gave Kaori) during the 'secret' meeting and managed to strike a deal with him. But now, Light was yelling at L of accusing him of being Kira. Those two know how to ruin any kind of moments.

"…If I capture the current Kira...After that, do you really think I would become Kira... Become a murderer... Do I really look like that kind of person?" Light demanded, grabbing a hold of L's shoulders and looking directly into his eyes.

"That's what I think, and that's how you look," L replied.

SMACK!

Light had punched L in the face while L kicked Light in the face. Getting up with annoyance, Kaori walked over to the boys, pushing them away from each other.

"Oh no you don't!" Kaori said standing in between the two. She turned to Light and held out her hand. "Give me Reiji's number."

Light stared at her dumbfounded, "Why?"

"Just give me the number."

"No."

"Light!" Kaori threw her hands in the air, "Just give me the damn number. Even if you don't, I'll just get it from Misa later."

"Just tell me why you need it," he said, holding the piece of paper in front of him.

Kaori snatched it away from him before replying, "That's for me to know, and you to find out." She promptly turned toward the door and walked out.

--

The wind whipped across Kaori's face as she walked down the main street. She was on a mission to get her hair cut. After walking out of the computer room, Kaori had made her way back up to the room and into her bathroom. She had sat on the counter for a good half an hour, trying to build up the courage to cut her own hair. But she gave up and decided she would pay for a professional to do it instead.

Turning down another street, Kaori quickly crossed across the street, making sure to avoid any oncoming cars. She opened the door to the 'Mandarin Salon', enjoying the smells of shampoo and hairspray that flowed out and surrounded her.

--

"Kaori! You got a hair-cut!" Matsuda exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. Kaori was the in the lobby of the hotel, with her (new) jaw-length, layered, newly colored, dark brown hair.

"Thanks Matsuda," Kaori smiled at him. "I feel, how do I put it… more natural, now that my hair's shorter." She paused and tilted her head in question, "Why are you up here and not in the computer room?"

"Oh, I'm taking a break."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Chief Yagami and Mogi are in the computer room while L and Light are making the plans for tomorrow in Misa's room," Matsuda shrugged.

"What plan? And why are they in Misa's room?" Kaori seemed skeptical about whatever this so-called plan may be.

"Well, they had to get Misa into the plan," Matsuda said, "Anyway, Misa agreed to have rumors spreading that she had been apprehended by L for being the second Kira. So they're going to have Misa go meet with 4 of the men along with a conman we hired."

Kaori looked at Matsuda for a minute, "…When did we hire a conman?"

"We also hired a thief," Matsuda grinned.

"Oh my god…," Kaori started, "Not only is L insensitive, he's going insane. Alright, I'll see you later, I've got some stuff to do."

"Alright Kaori, I'll see you later!" Kaori walked off to her to start her own plans.

--

Kaori locked the door to her bedroom as she as she shut the door. "Now, where is that slip of paper?" She searched her pockets trying to find it, coming out unlucky. "Where the hell is it?" Kaori was getting frustrated from it not being in her pocket. She quickly took off her pants and turned them upside down, shaking them. Finally, the slip of paper she was looking for fell out. "God! That was just too hard."

She put her pants back on and picked up the paper. A sly grin found its way onto her face, "This is going to be too easy."

--

Standing out in front of the hotel at 2:32 in the afternoon made Kaori pretty fidgety. She was waiting for her ride to show up and take her to a café so they could talk. But she was really hoping that L and Light were watching Misa as their plan was in action, instead of noticing that she was gone. Kaori sighed as she saw a black BMW come to a stop right in front of her, windows down.

"Hey Reiji," Kaori smiled at him as she got into the passenger seat, "Thanks for picking me up."

"Oh it's no problem, Umeko," he gave her a smile of his own before pulling away from the hotel and making his way toward the café. On the car ride over, Kaori and Reiji's conversation was pretty scattered. They talked about recent movies, their favorite movies, their favorite restaurants, but mostly about America. After a 30 minute drive, they parked and made their way into the café, choosing a booth in the back.

Walking over to the booth, Kaori was lost in thought, '…This is where I told Light that I was suspicious of him being Kira… I really should tell him that he is, but I don't want to blurt out something stupid and embarrassing again.' She sighed as she sat down.

"What's wrong Umeko?" Reiji asked the silent girl.

"Huh? Oh, just thinking," she gave him a half hearted smile. After ordering a drink, Kaori decided to put her plan into action.

"So…" Kaori trailed of, catching Reiji's attention. "I hear that you were contacted by my employer…"

Reiji looked at her, confusion written all over his face, "Who?"

"Well, he goes by the name of L. Surely you've heard of him" A sly smirk appeared on her face as she watched a number of emotions washed over his face. 'I love making them squirm,' she thought, being careful to show any emotions. When Reiji didn't answer, Kaori continued. "Now, we both know that you're not Kira, and I'm sure L told you what would happen if you cooperate with us. So what is your decision?"

"…I will tell you who I believe is Kira," he finally said as he run his fingers through his hair.

"Good," Kaori smiled with satisfaction.

" It's Higuchi."

"Now why do you say that?" She pressed for details.

"Mido doesn't need the help to be successful; he's not stupid enough to kill so many people in the company. Shimura doesn't want to keep following Kira's orders, but is too afraid to quit. So that pretty much left Higuchi and Takahashi, since the others don't play a big role in the meetings. And Takahashi is ruled out since he's basically there just to make Kira look smarter." Reiji finished his explanation, still uneasy about the fact that Kaori's working for L.

"Alright, thank you Reiji," Kaori said standing up to leave. "My employer will be getting in touch with you soon." She turned to walk away.

"Wait." She stopped at looked at the unnerved man she left behind.

"Yes…?"

"I'm guessing that Umeko is not your real name…"

Kaori let out a laugh, "You're a lot smart than you look Mr. Namikawa. It's been a pleasure talking to you." Before he could say or ask anything else, Kaori made her way out to the street to flag down a cab.

--

Upon entering the hotel, Kaori encountered an enraged Light.

"Kaori," he leered at her, "Where did you go?"

"I went to go visit a friend," she merely replied, trying to get passed him. That didn't work out. Light grabbed her arm.

"Where did you go?" he demanded again.

"Well…If you must know," Kaori drawled out, "I went to go have a chat with Mr. Reiji Namikawa."

"You what?!"

"Don't tell me you're going deaf," she joked.

"Kaori, this is no time for jokes," Light tightened his grip on her arm. "What if he was Kira? You could be dead by now!"

"But the fact is…I'm not," Kaori said quietly, her face relaxing.

"I wouldn't forgive myself if I lost you," he mumbled, pulling her into a hug.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "I know. I just love watching you panic. This is the first time since before senior year that you've actually shown emotions."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm just saying you were at one point heartless," she shrugged, pulling away from him.

"Do you think I'm still heartless?" Light asked, his eyes connected with hers.

She smiled widely at him, "Nope."

"Good…" Light leaned for and kissed Kaori before pulling away. "Now let's go, L was expecting us down in the computer room about 10 minutes ago." Kaori grinned up at him as she grabbed his hand, yanking him along as she skipped toward the elevators.


	24. Chapter 24: The Chase Begins

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Sorry, but this one's incredibly long. It's very informational and ya. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter of my story, as sad as it may sound. But i wanted to inform you that it was, so you wouldn't be surprised when the next chapter comes out. On a better note...

ENJOY

* * *

It was two days before the final plan to capture Kira, also known as Higuchi, took place. Somehow, L had convinced Matsuda to risk his life to help capture Kira. Right now, Matsuda was at the Sakura TV Station, behind a black screen, about to describe his encounter with Kira, while L, Misa, Light, and Kaori were in the computer room.

"You know," Kaori started, turning to Light, "I really do feel sorry for Matsuda. He shouldn't be risking his life to capture Kira."

"I know, but what can we do?" Light questioned, "It was his choice."

"But shouldn't it be _L's_ job to risk his life?" Kaori was still very bitter toward L.

"Kaori." Light gave her a warning glance. Thankfully L didn't hear her, but even if he did, he didn't make say anything.

"Whatever." Kaori walked over to the couch in the middle of the room, "Just a over two months ago, you wanted him dead…" she muttered under her breathe, plopping down on the couch, eyes trained on the big screen.

"Alright," L's voice filled the room, "Light-kun, you know what to do."

Kaori watched as Light picked up the phone and dial a number.

"Namikawa-san, it's L. Are you alone?"

'Of course he would call Reiji,' Kaori thought, tuning out the rest of his conversation with the long-haired man. 'I wonder how he's doing anyway… I'm sure Higuchi hasn't panicked yet since the interview with Matsuda doesn't start until seven.' Kaori paused in thought as she checked the time on her phone.

_7:07pm_

'The show begins,' Kaori thought, glancing back over to Light. He had hung up the phone and was now focused on the large screen. L had changed it the Sakura news, its headline reading _**Kira Special: It's all true! Kira's Identity!**_ There sat Matsuda behind the large screen along with the reporter, who had their own screen. Kaori stood up and walked over to Light, her eyes trained on the screen. Suddenly, Matsuda had knocked over his screen on accident.

"Stupid Matsuda," L commented, watching as the reporter team fixed his screen so he was out of danger. Kaori just glared at the back of L's head, before turning her attention back to the screen.

_"That unfortunate accident we had…Are you okay? Should we stop?"the reporter asked._

_"No, I know the danger. I'm doing this for the good of mankind. I'll go till the end!"Matsuda replied._

A phone's ringtone cut across the room. "There it is!" Misa cried, looking down at the caller ID. She hit the end button, before putting away her phone.

"Higuchi's starting to fret isn't he?" Kaori asked no one in particular.

"Wait, you weren't with the group when Misa announced it him," confusion was written on Light's face, "How did you find out?"

Kaori slightly shifted. "You know how I went to the café with Reiji?" Light nodded his head, eyes hardening. "Yeah, well, I got him to tell me who he thought it was, and surprisingly, his reasoning was really logical."

"When did you go on the date with Reiji, Kaori-chan?" L interrupted.

"It wasn't a date. We _hung out_ two days ago." L was not getting on Kaori's good side.

Before L could ask or say anything else, Watari's voice sounded from the screen in front of L. "Ryuzaki, Higuchi has just called Mogi-san's phone."

"Yes, as expected," L had returned his attention to the problem at hand. Without another word spoken, Watari had relayed the phone call to L.

_"Mogi, Where's Misa?!" came Higuchi voice._

_"Oh, Mr. Higuchi. Misa is on vacation right now. She had a few days off for the first time in a while. She should be back by tomorrow morning."_

_"I'm asking you where she is!!"_

'This is going along with the plan perfectly,' Kaori thought, noticing the anger and panic in Higuchi's voice. Now Higuchi was on the phone with Yoshida Productions President.

_"This is Higuchi from Yotsuba. This Taro Matsui, that isn't his real name?"_

_"You're right. He only used that name for his job Mr. Higuchi."_

_"What's his real name?!"_

Misa snickered, "He's not even trying to hide what he's after anymore. Stupid Higuchi."

_"If it's that important to you, then I'll tell you the combination to the office door. You can go check for yourself. The resumes are in the very back desk to the left of when you enter. They're in the bottom drawer in alphabetical order."_

"Is he going to go?" Misa asked.

"Well, if he doesn't want to be exposed, he will," Kaori answered.

L switched the main screen to the tracker that was placed in Higuchi's car by Wedy, the thief.

"I'm following Higuchi," came the voice of the thief herself. "He's only carrying a bag."

"Alright," L responded.

Everyone's attention was focused back on the screen of what's going on in Higuchi's car. The only sound that was coming through was the interview being played in the middle of his dashboard. Higuchi finally broke the silence,

_"Rem…What do you think?"_

"Rem? Who's Rem?" Light questions.

'Rem? Haven't I heard someone say that before?' Kaori frowned. She racked her brain from past events. 'Rem, Rem, Rem. Seriously, I've heard someone say Rem before.' Then it clicked. 'Wait a second. I heard the name Rem when I was hiding in the building across from the Sakura TV station! Geez, I almost forgot about that; it seemed so long ago.' Kaori paused and looked back at the screen, where Higuchi seemed to be talking about himself. She then stole a glance at Light, who had confusion written all over his face. 'Don't tell me Rem is another shinigami. I thought there was only Ryuk. So if Rem is another one, wouldn't it have belonged to Misa, before she lost her memory?' Kaori proceeded to look at Misa. Her was unchanged as she seemed to focus on something behind Higuchi. Following her eyes, Kaori looked back up to the screen; nothing. 'So there is a shinigami there…but how can Misa see it? Unless she managed to get a hold of the notebook whenever she hung out with Higuchi, which is a possibility. What the hell is going on right now? I thought I was the only one, besides Higuchi now, that knew about shinigami's and the Death Note.'

Kaori continued to frown as she continued to gaze at the screen. L kept switching the screens to follow Higuchi's movement as he went into the Yoshida Productions Studio. Kaori watched as he went through the resumes and picked out Matsuda's. He wrote down Matsuda's 'name' in the Death Note, and left the building.

"That's no good!" Light exclaimed, looking at the screen. "All he did was write down the name and leave! Is he not going to kill him anymore?"

"Just wait," Kaori muttered. "I'm positive Higuchi will slip up." Light gave her a confused look before turning back to the screen.

_"Damn! He's not dying!" Higuchi yelled in his car._

"What's going on?! He just said he didn't die!" Light was baffled.

"So, he already did the killing ritual?" L asked himself. "He did it while he was walking to the car..? Is writing the name down the method of killing…?"

'God… This is kind of weird knowing how Higuchi's killing people, but I promised Light I wouldn't tell L anything…' Kaori sighed in thought.

"What should we do, Ryuzaki? Keep watching what he does? It seems like it must be that he kills by just thinking about a person's name and face…" Light said.

'That is the stupidest thing that Light could ever assume,' Kaori thought. 'If it weren't for the fact that I can tell the difference between Light and Kira Light, I would say he was trying to throw L off his trail, but he's really not.'

_"Rem… I make the trade." Higuchi said._

"Trade? What is this Rem he keeps mentioning?" Light was so lost, it made Kaori want to smack him.

'This wouldn't have happened if Light had erased all his memories of the Death Note and Ryuk,' Kaori thought in anger. 'Then the urge for me to smack some sense into him won't be so dire.'

Those in the computer room continued to watch as Higuchi weaved in and out of traffic ant a fast pace.

"If he doesn't slow down, he's going to get pulled over," Kaori commented. As if on cue, a siren and flashing red and blue lights leaked into the screen of the Kira suspect's car.

"_Let me see your license," the cop demanded. "You were speeding."_

_"Yeah yeah."Higuchi responded._

Everyone watched closely as Higuchi rummaged through his brief case before taking off.

"What is he doing running from the cop?" Kaori asked, even though she knew exactly what was going to happen. She just didn't know how to brace herself with seeing death.

CRASH!

The motorcycle cop ran into the back of a semi-truck. Kaori made a whining noise and covered her eyes. Just because she didn't object to Light killing as Kira, it didn't mean she had to watch people die. L and Light stared at the screen in shock. Finally, L came back to life and started shouting orders to every cop under his control.

"Everyone! I've determined that it's too dangerous to allow further action by Higuchi! We haven't verified the method of killing yet, but we will assume that he has evidence on him and will switch to capture mode! But like the second Kira, assume that Higuchi can now kill with just a person's face!

"Watari, get me the director of the NPA."

"Yes," came the voice of the old man.

"This is L. We've concluded that Kira is a certain individual. He's currently traveling on Freeway 1 from Hibiya, headed to the Shibuya area in a red Porsche 911, license number… Sadly, it's believed an officer on a motorcycle has already become his victim. We will handle the apprehension. Please inform all police units to stay away from this Porsche."

"Dad," Light took over the microphone, "Higuchi's left the Yoshida productions building. Begin stage seven after the next commercial break."

"All right," Mr. Yagami responded.

'The chase is on,' Kaori thought.

"Well then," L said standing up from his chair, "Light-kun, shall we go too?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, where you guys going?" Kaori asked, looking between L and Light.

"Kaori-chan, you're going to stay here and make sure Misa doesn't do anything stupid," L demanded.

"I'm not a babysitter!" Kaori cried, "Why can't I go?"

"Kaori," hands guided Kaori to face Light, "It's too dangerous for you to go out. Please, stay here where it's safe."

"No!" Kaori said, trying to pull off Light's hands. "I've already put my life in danger by agreeing to help catch Kira."

"But if you come, you'll come face to face Kira himself," he pressed, not letting her out of his grip.

"But— "

"No buts. Please, just stay."

Kaori sneered at him before giving up, "Fine. I'll stay."

"Good." Light leaned forward and kissed her before leaving with L.

Kaori sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, what do you want to do?" When she didn't hear an answer from Misa, Kaori looked toward her, only to be met with an angry blonde-headed girl. "Misa…?"

"Light kissed _you_?!" she screeched.

"Umm… no?" Kaori noticed a pair of handcuffs and rope sitting on the desk. "That was just a bad daydream…" Misa's expression seemed to lighten up. In an instant, an idea popped into Kaori's head.

"Here sit down and I'll get you something to drink," a sinister smile playing on her face.

"Alright…" Misa agreed and sat down in L's computer hair.

Kaori quickly took action. Within a couple seconds, Kaori had Misa tied and handicapped to the chair.

"Huh?! What is this?" Misa screamed trying to get out of the chair.

"I wouldn't try to move if I were you," Kaori said over her shoulder as she walked towards the exit, "You might tip over the chair."

'Wow,' Kaori thought as she made her way out of the hotel, 'That was a little too easy… I wonder why Light didn't chain me up, he knew I would leave… Oh well, let the chase begin!'


	25. Chapter 25: The Grand Finale

**Disclaimer:** I do not own death note. The only things I own are Suki, Kaori and Denji.

Alright! Here's the Grand Finale!!

ENJOY!!

* * *

_"If I had my own world,_

_I'd fill it fill it with wealth and desire_

_A glorious past to admire_

_And voices of kids out walking dogs_

_Birds, planes, trees and cars_

-

_If I had my own world_

_I'd love it for all that's inside it_

_There'd be no more wars, death or riots_

_There'd be no more police, packed parking lots_

_Guns, bombs sounding off_

-

_If I had my own world_

_I'd build you an empire_

_From here to the far lands_

_To spread love like violence"_

-

'I can't believe L has a stash of cars in the hotel car garage. Oh well, who cares? I love driving and blasting music!' Kaori thought, singing along with the song. At that moment, Kaori was weaving in and out of traffic on the highway in an orange Mazda. Looking down at the speed dial, Kaori whistled, 'Thank goodness all the cops are preparing to chase down Higuchi at this moment or I would be in jail by now….shit.'

Kaori slammed on the breaks and slowly pulled off into the median before coming to a complete stop. She sighed irritably before getting out of her car. Stopping and redirecting the traffic was a blockade of cops.

"Excuse me officer," Kaori said as she approached one of the police men directing traffic. "Is it possible for me to get through?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, we're told not to let anyone through," he replied, turning he's back on her, "So I suggest you keep moving."

"But you don't seem to understand, I _need_ to get through."

"Look missy, we can't let you go, it's against orders."

"Let her through with us," a voice shouted behind them. Kaori slowly turned around to look at the person, and came face-to-face with Aizawa, as well as a long line of cop cars behind him.

"Aizawa…?" Kaori's jaw dropped. "Where have you…why are you… What are you doing here?"

"I'm a part of the police force," he replied.

"Well yeah, but," Kaori huffed with slight embarrassment, "…ugh, never mind."

He just laughed at her, making his way back to his car, "Alright, just follow closely behind me, alright?"

"Yep! Thanks a bunch Aizawa, I owe you one," Kaori hopped into her car and started it back up.

The engines roared as they became impatient. The police blockade had to move aside to let the group through. Finally, it was clear. Kaori stepped on the gas as soon as Aizawa's car drove past her. Within seconds, the group of 10 or so cop cars, along with Kaori, had their lights flashing and sirens on, traveling dangerously fast on the highway.

'This is awesome,' Kaori thought, closely following the lead car. 'I wish I was a cop, but then again, not really. I only like the driving fast part.'

Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Kaori noticed lights appear in the sky and on the road ahead. She watched through the rearview mirror as the cops behind her spread out into a line, blocking off any chances of getting through. The blockade came to a stop as the lights came closer.

'What is Higuchi going to do?' Kaori asked herself as she watched a red Porsche do a 180 degree turn a little bit in front of her, two cars and a helicopter following him closely. 'If he thinks he can get away, he's in for a real treat. Now let's see what we have in this car…' Kaori unbuckled her seatbelt and started searching the car. There was nothing in the glove compartment or under the seats; basically the car was cleaned out except for a police radio. Kaori sighed before sitting back into her seat, 'I was at least hoping for a weapon.' The roar of an engine broke her concentration. "You can't be serious…" Kaori muttered as the Porsche sped towards its chasers.

A gunshot sounded through the air, shortly followed by the shattering of glass and the screeching of tires. Aizawa voice's sounded through the radio, "Surround him so he can't escape, keep your windows up." The blockade closed in on Higuchi's car, pinning him against side wall. "Now we wait for L's orders. L is definitely watching this. This is as far as we can move on our own. Do not try to apprehend him until we receive L's order." Kaori watched from her spot in the car as the scene played out.

"STAY BACK! EVERYONE STAY BACK!" Higuchi screamed from his broken car window, holding up a gun to his head. Another gunshot sounded off, this one shot the gun from his hand.

'What an idiot…If he gets caught, he'll spill everything to L.' Kaori was getting fidgety. 'Although L is smart, he won't look through the Death Note, because it's evidence, so he'll use Higuchi to explain everything. Unless, L touches the Death Note so he's able to see the shinigami. But then again, shinigami's aren't allowed to tell anything to anyone about the Death Note except the owner. So that leaves Higuchi to tell everything, all the secrets… And if he tells L everything, then L will figure out that Light was Kira and have him arrested. I can't let that happen…Higuchi needs to be dealt with…'

A tapping noise on the driver-side window startled Kaori out of her wits. She tried to slow down her heart beat as she lowered her window. "Aizawa, you scared me!"

"Sorry about that," he apologized, "Here." He handed her a police helmet that shields the face.

"Seriously?"

"You have every right to be out there with the rest of them."

"Awesome! You really make my day, Aizawa!" Kaori quickly rolled up her window and shut off the car. Putting the helmet on, she stepped out of the car and followed Aizawa to Higuchi's Porsche.

"Higuchi," came the voice of Mr. Yagami from one of the multiple police men with helmets, "Raise your hands and exit the vehicle." Once Higuchi stepped out and away from his car, Mr. Yagami continued. "Keep your back to us." As soon as he turned around, the policemen quickly cuffed him and placed tape over his eyes, and placed a headset on him.

'That's really weird…' Kaori thought, watching as Higuchi began speaking to someone over the headset. Her eyes followed over to Mr. Yagami as he took out Higuchi's bag and go through it, taking out a black note book. 'The Death Note…'

"AHHH!" Mr. Yagami started freaking out. "M-monster!"

"Mr. Yagami!" Kaori called, quickly making her way toward the man on the ground. "What's wrong?" She picked up the note book, and looking right in front of her.

"AHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked as she came face to face with the shinigami know as Rem. She threw the notebook a few feet beside her, but not before she tore out a corner on one of the back pages. She continued to pretend to freak out, backing up against the Porsche, her hands getting cut by glass in the process. Making sure no eyes were on her and everyone continuing their investigation. 'By now, that notebook would have gotten into L's and Light's hands, I need to do this quick… I can't believe I'm going to do this…' Searching around her, Kaori found nothing but glass. 'This and blood will have to do.'

Picking up one of the pieces of broken glass, Kaori swiped some blood from her already bleeding hand. Putting the small piece of the Death Note paper on her knee, Kaori wrote Higuchi's full name. Once she finished, she stuffed the paper into her pants pocket and leaned up against the car. '…What have I done? I just killed someone…'

The death of Higuchi was confirmed when the man himself was brought down to the ground.

"Higuchi!" Mr. Yagami grabbed a hold of the dead man's body. "Ryuzaki! Higuchi is dead!!"

--

"Higuchi could have committed suicide," Mr. Yagami proposed, "He had the power to kill. It's not impossible that he could kill himself."

Kaori, Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi, L, and Light were back in the computer room, trying to work out the events of what happened on the highway. Well, Kaori knew what happened, but her mouth was shut.

"But he killed by writing people's names down in the notebook, so wouldn't he have to write his own name down?" Matsuda argued back. "If he could kill himself like that, why did he point the gun to his head earlier?"

"Well, maybe he figured it would be less painful than dying by a heart attack…?" Mr. Yagami was losing that battle. "A coincidental heart attack… suicide… Another Kira… A shinigami… Which is it, Shinigami?"

"My name is Rem," it replied. By now, everyone one in the room knew that Rem existed and could see him. "I didn't kill Higuchi and don't know why he died."

'I need to get out of this room…' Kaori thought, keeping a wary eye on Rem, 'I don't want to have to answer any of those questions and I need to get rid of the paper in my pocket.'

Quietly getting up from her spot next to Aizawa, who was currently talking on the phone, Kaori made her way to the exit door. Unfortunately she had to get passed Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, _and_ Rem to get out of the door.

"Where are you going Kaori?" Mr. Yagami asked, he's eyes on her.

"I really need to go clear my head…" Kaori said with a shaky voice, "I feel like I'm in a nightmare."

"Did you need to help to your room? Or someone to talk to about this? Because I know this hasn't been the easiest night."

Kaori smiled at him, "Actually… that would be nice."

"I'll go with her, dad," Light spoke up before they could take a step toward the door.

"That might be a wise choice," Mr. Yagami agreed.

"Come on Kaori," Light muttered, placing his hand around her arm and guiding her out of the room. The walk was silent as they made their way into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Light quickly turned Kaori so she was facing him. "Light… What's wrong?" she asked, confused by Light's actions.

"I remember," he replied.

"Remember what, Light."

"I remember _everything_, Kaori."

"H-h-how? You're lying to me, you have to be! There's no way you can remember!" Kaori didn't know what to do, nothing made sense to her. She looked up into his eyes, but what she saw made her stumble backwards out of his grip. His eyes were back to what they once were, red tint and a hint of evil in them. "That's impossible…I thought that once you gave up your memories, you wouldn't remember anything to do with it."

"Nothing's impossible Kaori," he replied, a smile on his face.

"B-b-but…" tears were streaming down her face by now as she held onto her head, "You left me all by myself with the truth!"

"I know," he replied, grabbing a hold of her and hugging her, "I'm sorry about that, but I didn't tell anyone but Ryuk and Rem about my plan."

"Why am I always left out of the plans…" Kaori muttered into Light's chest. He just chuckled at her. The elevator doors opened with a ding, making Kaori jump a little.

"Let's go," Light said, pulling away from Kaori, grabbing her wrist in the process. He pulled her out and led her into her room. As soon as the door was shut, Kaori yanked her wrist away from Light.

"How could you do that to me?" she hissed at him.

"If I didn't have my memories erased, I would've been caught."

"You should've warned me! I went mental after you did that!"

Light sighed, lowering his eyes, "I know. I remember your fight with the shower and your phone lost at sea. But would you rather have me do that, or get caught?"

Kaori looked at him, not knowing what to say. Finally, she gave her answer, "I'd rather you have done that but trusted me with your plan. I'm not a blabber mouth Light."

"I know, and I'm sorry. If I had known that _that_ would happen, I wouldn't have done it. But there is one thing I don't understand… How did Higuchi die? Did someone find my Death Note or is there another one out there?"

She frowned and turned away from him, making her way into the bathroom. Standing in front of the sink, she took out the paper from her pocket and turned on the water. She held the paper underneath the water, watching the blood wash off.

"Kaori…" Light said carefully, "What are you doing?"

She glanced into the mirror, meeting Light's confused eyes, "Washing paper."

"You…you killed him?"

Kaori bit her bottom lip, focusing on washing all the blood out of the paper. She tensed up as arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Thank you," Light said, nuzzling Kaori's neck. "I love you."

Kaori dropped the paper into the sink and turned around, "Are you just saying that, or do you mean it?"

"I mean it," he replied, leaning his forehead against hers. She carefully searched his eyes before smiling softly at him.

"I love you too Light." Light returned her smile before he kissed her nose. He went to go kiss her on the lips but his phone went off.

"We'll have to save that for later," Light sighed with annoyance, looking at the caller ID on his cell, "L wants me back down in the computer room. Don't worry though, if my plan goes accordingly, he won't be here much longer."

Kaori's smile disappeared, "Good, because no matter how cute he can be, he's a totally asshole."Light just looked at her, no readable expression on his face

Within a second, Kaori felt soft lips upon hers. But they were gone in the next second. Kaori blinked before smiling at Light, "What was that for?"

"…Everything…" And with that, Light left.

Kaori shook her head before turning back around. Picking up the disintegrating paper, Kaori continued the method of getting rid of it.

--

Two days later and Kaori was back into computer room with Light, L, Aizawa, Matsuda, and Mr. Yagami; Kira had struck again.

"What's going on?! The criminals are being killed again…?!" Mr. Yagami exclaimed, having thought to be done with Kira.

Kaori looked over at Light, watching a sly grin appear in his eyes. Kaori rolled her eyes, 'Obviously Light sweet talked Misa into killing for him. But then again, he didn't even have to sweet talk me into killing for him.' Kaori sighed as she sifted positions on the couch, going back to listening to the conversation.

"But this makes it clear that there really is another notebook out there," Light said, "Right Rem?"

"Must be…" Rem replied, "A shinigami wouldn't go out of his way to kill only criminals…"

"This happens the moment Amane is freed…" L thought out loud.

"Ryuzaki, you're still saying that?" Light replied, as he stole a glance at Rem.

'So _that's_ what Light's plan is…' Kaori thought, a smile growing on her face. 'He plans to get L to think Misa's Kira so Rem will panic and kill of L. Though, I didn't realize that Light wanted Rem dead…well… maybe it's because Rem is too overprotected of Misa since Misa is to stupid to look after herself. I just hope Light knows what he's doing.'

"I don't care what country, let's contact them. There shouldn't be a problem if we're up-front about it," L stated, "We'll have them use the notebook in an execution."

"Wait…what?" Kaori asked as she shot off the couch. "Why do you want to test the notebook?"

L turned toward her, "Well, Kaori-chan, I want to test the thirteen day rule." He turned back towards the majority of the group, "As I was saying, we'll have a criminal scheduled for execution within 13 days write the name down. The deal will be that if the person lives past 13 days, then his death sentence will be commuted… Watari, contact the leader of a country who would agree to this."

'Since when did that rule exist? Was that rule apart of Light's plan too?' Kaori asked herself.

"Ryuzaki!!"

"Wait! This is** crazy**!!" Aizawa yelled, "What does this accomplish?!"

"Obviously to test whether this murder notebook works," L simple replied.

Kaori noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. 'Rem…' Making sure no one was looking, she snuck a glance of the shinigami. He's catlike eyes pierced through hers. His face went from a panicked look to a glare, but for he disappeared through the wall. 'What the hell was that all about…?'

CRASH!

Kaori whipped back around to the group.

"What's wrong, Watari?" L asked, eyes widening. "Watari…?

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"What's going on?!" Kaori asked eyes on the computer. _All data erased_ appeared on the screen.

"I told Watari that if something ever happened to him, he should erase all the data he can and to set his system up to erase automatically after a certain amount of time," L said darkly.

"It something happened to him…?" Aizawa repeated.

"You mean… like death…?" Matsuda muttered.

"Where's the shinigami?!" Aizawa asked, whipping around.

"Everyone," L started off, "The shiniga…"

"Ryuzaki…?" Kaori asked as she noticed his hand shaking. She knew what was happening but it seemed almost like a dream. She watched as his awkward sitting positioned body fell off the side of his chair, tipping it with him.

"RYUZAKI?!" Light screamed, catching the falling man before he hit the floor. He stopped screaming as his father went to go call an ambulance.

"We'll be killed too!" Aizawa said, falling back against the desk.

"Not if we find Rem!" Light replied getting up. "Kaori! Go find out where the damned shinigami went!"

"Of course," Kaori said, a 'shocked' look on her face. Running out of the room, she turned to the door that was in the room right next to the computer room. 'Now… Where are you Rem?' The ground beneath her next step caused her to slip a bit. Looking down, Kaori noticed a pile of sand along with the Death Note. 'So this is what happens when a shinigami dies…' Picking up the notebook, Kaori started flipping through the pages. She stopped on the last page, reading the names. Her heart nearly stopped as she read the third to last name.

_Kaori Mochizuki will die 5 minutes after picking up this Death Note._

Kaori quickly picked up her cell phone and looked at the time. _9:42pm_. She let out as scream of anger as she through her phone at the wall, shattering it. 'That BASTARD! He knew Misa wouldn't allow him to kill Light so he thought it would be best to kill me off so Misa could live happily ever after! I can't believe this! I'm going to die!' Reality hit her. '…I'm going to die…?' Her hands started to shake from the shock. Her eyesight blurred as tears built up and fell down her face. Her entire body trembled as she sobbed.

"Kaori?" Light's voice sounded through the storage room. The sound of his footsteps stopped as soon as it was behind Kaori. "Kaori what's wrong?"

"That god damn shinigami killed me!" Kaori cried turning around to face Light.

He gave her a crazy look, "What do you mean? You're still alive."

She shoved the last page in his face, "Read the third to last line."

Kaori watched as a series of emotions appeared on Light's face. He didn't speak for what seemed like hours, but she knew it was only seconds. His eyes met hers, fear, sadness and anger coursing behind them. He pulled out his watch, "How long ago did you pick up the notebook?"

"9:42…" she murmured, looking down at the sand left behind by Rem.

A hand was placed underneath Kaori's chin, guiding it up so she was looking at him again. "Kaori," Light said, stray tears running down his face, "I love you. You will always be my queen."

He brought down his face closer to hers, his lips brushing against hers. More tears leaked out of Kaori's eyes as she placed her trembles arms around Light's neck. She pressed her lips harder against his. She quickly pulled away from him as a sudden burst of pain exploded in her chest.

"L-Light," she gasped as her muscles started to collapse.

"Kaori!" Light grabbed a hold of her, slowly placing her on the floor, but not letting her go.

She smiled up at him through her tear streaked face, "I love you, Light. I'll see you…on the other…side…"

* * *

And... ya. That the last chapter of this story, but stay tuned for the **_epilogue_**! It'll be a little bit happier than this and will at least have some closure to it.


	26. Epilogue: Everlasting

Woot! Enjoy the Epilogue folks!

* * *

"Hello! Anyone there?" Kaori asked out loud. She had been wondering all over this deserted place. The sky itself was black, while there were streaks of light along the horizon line. No matter where she was, the streaks would never move. The ground was covered with sand, rocks and plants scattered everywhere. Surprisingly, there was a breeze that flowed through the air. Although the place was scary at first, Kaori's found the beauty in it. Along her journey across the barren land, she noticed she didn't need food or water to survive.

Kaori finally climbed up and sat down on a large rock, just waiting, _hoping_, for something to happen. This beautiful place can get lonely real fast when you're alone. "I wish I didn't die…" she thought out loud.

"So do I," came a voice behind her. Whipping around, Kaori eyes widened and jaw dropped.

"L-L-L-Light?" She carefully slid off the back of the rock. Standing up properly, Kaori slowly made her way to the man standing before her. "Light? Is this really you?" She reached up her hands, gently touching his cheek. She quickly pulled her hand back when it connected with the flesh. His hand grabbed a hold of hers and guided it back to his cheek, nuzzling it.

"Yes, Kaori it's me," he's voice sent a shiver down her spine. Tears of joy sprang from her eyes as she gave him a hug.

"I thought I might never see you again!" Kaori cried, hugging him tightly.

"You told me yourself that you would see me on the other side," Light reminded her, returning her hug.

Kaori pulled away slightly, placing her hands on his chest, while his hands were on her hips. "Well, I almost lost hope," she replied, looking up at him. "I lost track of any sense of time in this place, so I got a little worried when you didn't show up after awhile."

"Don't worry," Light smiled, his eyes softening, "I'm here now. I will never leave you again. We will rule this place together, just you and me."

Kaori giggled at his little speech, "So, I'm the queen of all the rocks, plants, and sand?"

"Yes."

That only made Kaori laugh louder, "Oh Light, I love you!"

"I love you too." And with that, they seal their everlasting love with a final kiss.

* * *

I want to thank every one who's read and reviewed my story! I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! ...OH! And if you like Matt from Death Note, my next story is going to be about him... (I've already started the first chapter)...


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